Three in the Bed? - a Boeshane Mate Pt 3
by Awatere11
Summary: Now Jack knows the truth will he defend Ianto? Or will he walk away broken hearted, leaving Ianto to his fate with his dom? Does Ianto have any hope of salvaging his marriage to Jack or must he return to the one with Lisant ... the power is on Jack's hands. Complete / a one-shot or to two to follow
1. Chapter 1

1

Jack felt as if he'd been struck across the back with a wooden plank.

He laughed once, thinking this conversation absurd, but somewhere beneath the denial, he knew something was wrong. He tried to make sense of it, wanting nothing more than to believe his mate over this gutter scoundrel, but all his thoughts were becoming scrambled. For some reason—and it shamed him to admit it—his instinct moved him to doubt Ianto.

"You don't look as surprised as I thought you might," Lisant said with interest. "No more arguments?"

Jack felt Ianto's uneasy presence at his side.

"Let me explain," he pleaded.

 _Let me explain?_

Jack couldn't bring himself to look at him. He knew he should hear him out, but he just couldn't listen right now.

"There's nothing to explain," Lisant said. "It's quite simple. he married me, then perhaps a little hastily, he married you. Fickle little thing, isn't he."

Jack wanted to say something. Anything. But words would not come.

He heard Ianto's voice like a distant echo. "Jack, please listen to me—"

He cut him off by holding up his hand and speaking to Lisant. "I have a marriage certificate."

Lisant dug into his breast pocket.

"How brilliant. So do I." He unfolded a piece of paper and held it up. "See for yourself."

The print blurred before Jack's eyes.

He saw Ianto's signature, and Lisant's.

A sickening lump settled in his gut.

"See?" Lisant said.

But Jack could not see. He could not accept this. Ianto was _his_. They'd spent the past month together on his farm, working together, learning to trust each other, growing to _love_ each other. They'd made promises….

"Jack, there's so much more to this that you don't know about," Ianto said, his voice desperate. "If only you'd let me explain…."

Finally, he met his gaze. All he saw was the man who had hidden secrets from him on their wedding day. He had asked him if he loved this man, and he had said yes at the time. Now, to learn that he had actually _married_ him?

Ianto touched his shoulder, but he shrugged his hand away.

"Please, Jack."

He could not stay here.

He had to leave.

If he didn't, he might say, or do, something he'd come to regret.

He hopped down into the street, his boots splashing into a puddle. He felt the cold, hard rain battering against his hat as he tried to make sense of what he'd just learned.

If this man was Ianto's true husband—that meant the past month on his farm with him was nothing but a charade.

Truthfully, it wasn't all _that_ surprising.

He'd been expecting something like this from the beginning. When had love ever remained? When had it _not_ been taken away from him?

Jack climbed into the skipper staring straight ahead. He flicked water into the air as a damp chill invaded his clothing. Raindrops trickled from his eyelashes onto his cheeks.

As he started to pull away, he heard a muffled cry from somewhere beyond his barely functioning brain. He tried to block it out, but it cut through his pain and wrath like a blade.

 _Don't look back_ , he told himself over and over as he turned the skipper toward home. But the scream punctured his resolve yet again.

He pulled the skipper to a halt.

He sat there, paralyzed, water streaming down his face.

He felt like he was surrounded by a thick fog and couldn't find his way forward. The muffled screams were coming at him from somewhere outside this debilitating stupor.

 _Ianto_.

He was crying for him to come back.

He swung around in the seat.

Lisant was dragging him by his broken arm, pulling him along the boardwalk while he struggled and pleaded for help.

 _Good God_ —what was wrong with him?

Leaping from the skipper, Jack sprinted toward them. His boots splashed through the mud. Rain battered his face, but he felt none of it as he flew up onto the boardwalk.

Ianto was shouting and causing a scene. He turned back just as Jack overtook them and punched Lisant in the face.

Lisant stumbled backwards, onto the boardwalk.

The whole world went quiet and still as Jack took hold of Ianto's good hand and led him toward the skipper. He scooped him up into his arms, set him onto the seat, and in a matter of seconds, he was powering up the skipper and flying away, mud splattering everywhere.

.

.

.

.

.

Ianto tried to control his tears, but couldn't.

Cold rain struck his cheeks as they sped into the wind.

Sobbing, gasping for breath, he clung to the side of the skipper as they skidded around a corner.

He said a silent _thank you_ that Jack had come back for him.

Turning his gaze toward Jack, he wondered miserably if it even mattered.

He was staring straight ahead, all emotion absent from his dark expression.

Yes, he had rescued him from Lisant, but had he lost all feeling for him in the process?

"Jack, I'm so sorry," he shouted over the noise of the engines.

"Why didn't you tell me about that?" he said. "Is it true? Did you actually _marry_ him?"

"It's complicated," he tried to explain. "I didn't tell you because, at first, I was afraid you wouldn't take me. Then, after our wedding night, I was afraid you'd send me back. Then, I just…I fell in love with you and I didn't want you to know. I was ashamed of how stupid I was."

" _Ashamed_? Feeling embarrassed or remorseful is the least of your problems, Ianto. There's the law to consider here. Do you not know that bigamy is illegal?" He focused on the road.

Ianto, swivelling in the seat to face him, clutched Jack's sleeve in his fist. "You haven't given me a chance to explain what happened. And can you honestly say you wouldn't have sent me away after our wedding night, if you knew? You almost left me behind just now, after everything we'd been through these past few weeks. I thought we'd fixed things. I thought there was hope for us, but you almost left me behind!"

"I'm not the one who should be defending myself," he said. "You are."

"If you'd given me a chance to speak back there, I would have told you what really happened. Now, I'm not even sure it makes any difference."

Ianto saw the muscle in his jaw tighten. After a few seconds, he pulled the controls back and slowed the skipper down to second, then met his gaze and studied his face. "What do you mean, what _really_ happened?"

Ianto wiped the wetness from his cheeks. "It's not as simple as Lisant made it out to be. I didn't just marry him and then marry you. I wouldn't do that."

"Are you telling me you're divorced? Or that you had it annulled?"

He shook his head, wishing it could be so. "No. But when I married you, I honestly believed I was free to do so."

He pulled the skipper to a stop on the edge of town. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"That my marriage to Lisant was never a true one."

"Why not?"

"Because _he_ already had a mate. Our wedding was a sham. He was just trying to trick me and use me. He took everything from me."

Jack sat stone-still, blinking from the rain. "You mean _he_ is guilty of bigamy?"

"Yes. But I didn't know that when I married him. He told me on our wedding night, just after we'd…"

Jack held up a hand to stop him. "Why didn't you tell me this before? If you were innocent, you could have reported him. It could have been straightened out before you ever came here."

"You wouldn't have wanted me if you knew. And besides that, Lisant threatened me. He said if I told anyone, he'd say I knew what I was doing, that I was a con artist, just like him. Then I saw your ad and I had the chance for a decent life with an _honest_ man. Someone I could respect and start a family with. I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to have those things if anyone knew about my past. I thought if I could keep the whole thing a secret, at least until time had gone by and I could straighten things out later. But I made a mistake when I got on the Transporter in Delvon Prime. I should have used a different name, or disguised myself."

"You make it sound as if your only mistake was in getting caught."

He shook his head. "I don't expect you to understand. I wish I could go back and undo everything."

They sat in silence a moment, both of them soaking wet. Ianto couldn't stop his teeth from chattering.

"So what does this mean?" Jack asked, looking down at the leather wheel he was twisting in his big hands. "Are we married or aren't we?"

He didn't want to answer that question, but he knew if he wasn't completely honest with him now, all would be lost. The time for secrets had come to an end. "I'm not sure of anything anymore."

He turned to him. "Why should I believe you after what you've kept from me?"

"Because I love you, Jack," he replied. "You know I do. Surely you've felt it.

We've come so far together. I was just so afraid you would be disappointed in me and _stop_ loving me."

Jack bowed his head to rest on his hands.

"In my heart, I'm your mate," Ianto continued. "You're the only man I will ever love. Isn't that what's most important?"

He frowned and shook his head. "You tell me that you love me, but all along you knew you were lying to me. What kind of love can there be without trust?"

"Jack—"

"No, you have to answer me. How do you expect me to respond to all this? How do you expect me to love you now, when I don't have the slightest idea who you really are?"

Ianto shuddered at his disillusioned tone. "You say there can't be love without trust. But I trust _you_. With my life."

Jack tore his gaze away from him. "Maybe that's because I never lied to you."

With growing resentment, Ianto thought about everything they'd been through, how he'd been treated after their wedding night, how Jack had been so punishing toward him. "Never lied to me? What about Gwen? You didn't tell me any of that. I had to find out from Martha!"

"That has nothing to do with this."

"Why not?"

"Because it wasn't the same. I didn't lie about Gwen. I just never mentioned her. There was no point."

Ianto felt his blood quicken in his veins. "It was _exactly_ the same. And yes, there was a point. She was the reason you sent for me. I was just a way for you to forget her. You were using me just as much as I was using you."

Jack squeezed the wheel in his hands.

"I know you weren't over her when you married me," Ianto went on. "So if Lisant finds a way to destroy what we have will you order another mate and forget about me, too? As if the past month never happened?"

"Of course not." Jack's voice was low and controlled.

"If you were truly over Gwen," Ianto continued, "you wouldn't fight so hard against trusting me or loving me."

He stood up in the skipper, towering over Ianto. "I told you that has nothing to do with this. I _am_ over her. I'm just not over the…."

It was as if he only now understood the emotions he'd worked so hard to ignore all this time.

"The _what_?" Ianto pressed him.

His tone softened. "The fact that the people I care about always get taken away. They leave, or they die."

He sat down again and his expression was completely open. "I watched my family die, Ianto. Right in front of my eyes. My mother, my father, my baby sisters and little brother. There was nothing I could do to stop it, and I thought I was going to die, too. I don't know why I was spared."

Fighting tears, Ianto covered his hands with his. "Oh, Jack."

"I didn't want to love you," Jack said. "I worked hard not to, but then I gave myself permission to hope, and now I find out that you were never mine to begin with."

"I _am_ yours, Jack," Ianto sighed. "I've been yours since the moment we walked into the courthouse and you made me feel safe and cared for, as if everything was going to be all right."

He bowed his head. "But you were Lisant's before you were mine. You spoke vows. You promised to love him until death parted you. Did you really believe you would? Did it mean anything to you when you said it?"

Ashamed, he tried to find a way to answer him. But how could he, when he didn't even know the answer himself?

" _Did it_?" Jack pressed.

Unable to look him in the eye, he nodded. "I wrongly believed in him. And perhaps, if he had turned out to be a good man, I would still be with him."

"You promised him a lifetime."

He quickly looked up. "And you promised me one, too, when you didn't know me at all."

Jack did not respond.

He simply stared at the gray horizon, blurred with rain and mist, while he considered everything.

"Please, believe me," Ianto said. "I thought I was free to marry you. I was certain my marriage to Lisant was not valid, and over the past month I've grown closer to you than I ever was to him. To _anyone_."

"The past month…." Jack gazed up at him, despondently. "In all that time, I never really knew who you were."

His tone sent a chill down Ianto's spine.

"But you know now," Ianto said. "I promise, you know everything."

"Maybe so," Jack said, uncertainly.

Panic shot through Ianto as Jack powered the skipper up, turning them around.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Back to see Gray," Jack replied. "He's a solicitor, and I want to know what's real and what isn't—at least in the eyes of the law."

 **.**

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Each of them drenched to the core with rain, Ianto and Jack pulled into Gray's yard. They had not spoken a word since Jack had turned the skipper around.

Without waiting for Jack to assist him, Ianto climbed down and hurried toward the front door to escape the downpour. His arm ached and throbbed with every move he made, but the pain in his heart was worse by a long shot.

He pulled the front door open, and shivering, entered the warm, dry house.

Gray met him in the front hall. "Ianto, you're soaked. Come in by the stove."

He led him into the kitchen. "Where's Jack?"

The front door squeaked open and he heard his husband's boots tap against the step. Gray immediately went to meet him.

"What's wrong with you?" he demanded. "Ianto could have caught his death out there."

As much as he could tell from the kitchen, Jack didn't answer.

He wondered if he even cared.

Jack walked into the room and didn't waste a single second on civilities.

"Gray, we have a legal problem and we need your help."

Gray followed behind Jack and gave Ianto a questioning glance. "Maybe we should go into the parlour."

Jack gestured for Ianto to lead the way. He went in and sat on the sofa in front of the window, and Gray handed him a blanket that was draped over the back of a chair. He helped him wrap it around his shoulders.

"I suppose you should be the one to explain it," Jack said. "You know what happened better than I do."

Ianto hesitated, wondering how he would ever get through this. His stomach felt like it was bleeding fire. "It's something very private, I'm afraid,"

Gray removed his spectacles. "You may be assured of my utmost discretion."

"Thank you." This was proving more difficult than he expected. he kept his eyes lowered. "I…I made a mistake before I married Jack, and now I'm afraid it's going to ruin everything."

"What sort of mistake?"

Ianto stood and walked to the unlit fireplace, staring numbly at the white china bowl on the mantel. How could he say this to Gray, his brother-in-law, who had always made him feel so welcome?

But if he was going to set things right with his husband, he had to find a way.

Closing his eyes, he began. "I was involved with another man before Jack and I were married, and the involvement progressed to the point of…"

Hearing Jack clear his throat, he stopped, unable to go on.

Ianto tried to find the right words, but gave up, deciding there was no respectable way to put it. "I married him."

he heard Gray whistle in shock. "You're divorced?"

"No, Gray. That's the problem. I'm _not_ divorced."

he faced the two brothers squarely. Gray merely stared, his mouth agape.

Jack stood in angry silence.

"Ianto, I don't understand," Gray said.

"I didn't get the divorce because I never believed the marriage was legal in the first place. I still don't, but I'm not certain. If only I'd had the courage to seek legal advice right away, but I was afraid I'd be arrested."

Gray stopped pacing and shot him a horrified look. "Arrested! Why?"

"Because he already had a mate."

Gray sank into the rocking chair by the fireplace and rested his forehead in his hand. "Good God. This is unbelievable. You mean he never divorced his first mate before marrying you?"

"No."

"And he wasn't a widower?"

"No."

"You're telling me you married a bigamist?"

"Yes."

Gray glanced at his brother. "You knew nothing of this?"

"Not until today," Jack said his voice flat.

"At first I didn't tell him," Ianto added, "because I was ashamed and afraid he would turn me away. You have to understand, Gray—that I had no notion what I was getting into when I met Lisant. He was charming in the beginning and then he became very cruel. I had to escape the marriage."

Ianto was desperate to salvage whatever was left of Gray's good opinion of him. "I had no idea he was already married, and now he's followed me to Boeshane and he wants me back. I'm afraid of what he might do if I don't obey him. He told me he'd never let me go, and now he knows that I'm married to Jack."

Gray sat forward. "He's here? You spoke to him? Did anyone see you? There's definitely going to be a scandal."

Jack finally spoke up. "Gray, you're missing the point. Are any of his marriages legal?"

His detached tone made Ianto shudder inwardly.

Gray scratched his head. "I'm not sure."

"What do you mean, you're not sure?" Jack shouted. "Law is your profession."

"I'd need to see the written documents," Gray explained, "including those that go along with Lisant's first marriage. And I must be straightforward with you, I've never dealt with a bigamy case before. I'll have to look it up."

"How long will that take?"

He thought about it for a moment. "It's difficult to say. I may have to consult with a colleague."

"Wonderful," Jack whispered, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Ianto asked, feeling his courage rush out of him.

"For a walk."

"Can I come with you? We could talk more about this."

"There's nothing more to talk about, and I need to be alone." He walked out and slammed the door behind him


	2. Chapter 2

_2_.

Jack sloshed through the mud in town, barely conscious of how deep he was sinking.

The rain had stopped, but the dark gray sky prevailed.

Looking up at a passing cowboy atop an impressive black horse, Jack realized with some despair that he'd walked all the way from Gray's house and couldn't remember anything he'd seen along the way. His head was pounding with tension, his muscles stiff.

It pained him to remember the nights he'd spent with Ianto when he had been hiding a part of himself and keeping secrets. Why hadn't he trusted him enough to tell him?

Had he been that much of an ogre in the beginning?

He supposed, with some regret, that he had.

Just then, someone called his name.

 _Oh, God_. That voice. That sing-song voice….

"Jack? Is that you?"

He stopped on the boardwalk. Slowly turning, he did his best to appear indifferent and at ease. "Hello, Gwen."

She smiled and moved toward him. He took in her overall appearance, which had not changed since the day she broke off their engagement—except for the fact that she wore an expensive-looking dress he did not recognize. It was bright yellow with a high ruffle collar, sleeves with large frilled cuffs, and a long, overskirt caught up at the sides in an overabundance of pleated cotton.

As for her face, it was as flawless and as shockingly beautiful as he remembered.

But then he noticed the lace parasol, which made no sense on a rainy day like this and the long suede gloves, jewelled bag and fan.

She was, and always had been, completely unsuited to his sod house on the prairie.

Hesitantly, he strode toward her.

"It's wonderful to see you," Jack," she said.

"You, as well."

"I heard you were married last month. I had no idea it would make you even more handsome than you already were."

He glanced around, wondering how many of the town gossips were feeding on this.

"His name is Ianto," he mentioned.

"I know," Gwen replied. "Gray told me. Congratulations."

"Thank you."

The dazzling twinkle in her eyes dissolved suddenly.

"I suppose he told you about my…" She paused and then glanced around self-consciously. "My _situation_."

Jack nodded. "I was sorry to hear about that."

"And I was sorry that…" She stopped herself, and his desire to hear her out was disturbing, to say the least, because he had no desire to explore the 'what-might-have beens.'

He swallowed the urge to prompt her on, but she did so anyway. "I was sorry that I left Boeshane without saying goodbye to you."

Jack stared over her head at nothing in particular. "No worries. It's all in the past now."

"I hope you don't feel any bitterness toward me, Jack. I don't think I could bear it if you did. Not after what we once were to each other."

He nodded his head and spoke gently. "Like I said, it's in the past."

Gwen straightened her shoulders, fiddled with her jewelled bag, and strove to speak with a cheerful, animated tone. "Of course, you're right. So much has happened since then. I am so happy you were able to get on with your life."

But then her voice quavered.

 _Lord help him_. What would he do if she started weeping right there in the street?

She'd always been emotional. There was a time when it charmed him, because he rather fancied it when she rested her cheek on his shoulder, and it meant he had an excuse to put his arm around her. But today, there was enough turmoil on his plate.

"What's he like?" Gwen asked. "Gray told me he was the exact opposite of

me. Brown hair, light blue eyes, rather tall."

Jack swallowed over a rise of annoyance, because Ianto was so much more than that.

"He's very lovely," he replied, wishing he was there at his side, so that Gwen could see that she was not the only beautiful person in Boeshane.

Not anymore.

"You must be happy," Gwen added. "Is he everything you always wanted?"

He stood for a moment, pondering that question, realizing Ianto was not what he'd _always_ wanted. Until recently, Gwen had worn that crown.

"He's what I want _now_ ," he answered, truthfully.

Gwen's smile faded. "I see," she stammered. "Well. I do hope we can be friends."

"Of course."

Her eyes darted to something in the street. Jack turned to see Gray approaching in his Land Hopper with Ianto beside him.

"Is that him?" Gwen asked.

"Yes."

"Then I should go. I wouldn't want him to catch us together."

He turned to tell her to stay and be introduced, but she was already walking away.

He stared after her, watching that familiar gait.

Feeling no regrets.

None whatsoever.

He turned again, back to Gray and Ianto. The Land Hopper pulled up alongside the boardwalk.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked.

Neither one answered.

Gray merely stared at him, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Jack looked back to see Gwen disappear around a corner, and realized uneasily that Ianto was watching her, too.

Gray jumped down from the Land Hopper. "Ianto needed some fresh air so we thought we'd go for a drive and look for you."

He frowned with disapproval and then spoke to Ianto. "I'll head over to the office now. Jack will drive you home."

Slowly, not knowing what to expect, Jack walked toward him and climbed into the driver's seat. Without a word, he flicked the controls and turned them around.

He kept waiting for Ianto to ask him questions or act hurt, accuse him of something, but he didn't say a word.

A few minutes later, they pulled up in front of Gray's house.

Jack set the brake and hopped down. Ianto didn't wait for him to come around and help him. He began to climb out by himself, wincing at the pain in his arm.

"Wait," he said, hurrying around the vehicle. "I can help you."

He wrapped his hands around his tiny waist and gently lowered him to the ground.

Ianto looked up into his eyes, and there, at last, he saw the question.

"It was a chance meeting," he explained, his hands still gripping his waist. "I didn't plan it."

Ianto stared at him for a long moment then said, "Okay. I believe you."

Then he turned and walked toward the house.

"Ianto, wait."

He climbed the steps.

"What? I said I _believe_ you." Ianto let the door snap shut behind him. Jack whipped it open, following.

"Just listen, please? I bumped into her. It couldn't have been helped."

Ianto went into the kitchen, poured water into the tea kettle and set it on the stove.

"I wanted to introduce you, but she walked away before I got the chance."

Shaking his head, Ianto set a china cup on the small pine table, then went looking for the sugar bowl. "I told you. It's fine."

"It's _not_ fine." Jack couldn't take it anymore. He reached out and touched his good arm, and forced him to face him. "Ianto, despite everything that's happened, I don't want Gwen. You need to know that. Anything I might have felt for her is long dead."

Ianto merely stared at him and nodded.

Jack pulled him closer, felt his soft body against him, and suddenly wondered why he was the one trying to explain himself when he was the one who had married two men in the same month.

But none of this made sense, he realized, fearing the loss of him now more than ever, and resenting all these complications that were driving wedge after wedge between them.

 _Farmer, Jaxton Harkness, seeks gentle and peaceful mate for simple life on Boeshane Peninsular prairie._

If only it could have been simple.

But it wasn't. This was the lot they'd been given, but at least he knew one thing: he wanted no one but Ianto, and if he had anything to say about it, no other man would ever touch him again.

Just the thought of it…of that maggot, Lisant Hallet, wanting him—filled him with jealousy and a scorching need to hold onto him, to keep him safe. To possess him completely and not feel this fear that he would be snatched away at any moment.

He gazed at him, and took his face in both his hands. "I'm sorry for all this. I wanted it to be easier."

"So did I" he replied with sorrow and regret.

Jack lowered his mouth to his and felt his lips part with longing. The heat and warmth he felt against his mouth was like a balm to his senses. It sent tremors of wanting through his body.

Ianto's good hand slid inside his coat, up the length of his chest and slipped it off, over his shoulders.

Suddenly Jack was overcome with desire and he had to have him, to feel Ianto's body writhe with pleasure beneath him, to know he belonged to him and no other.

Tearing his coat from his body, he dropped it onto the floor, then scooped Ianto into his arms and carried him up the stairs, taking two at a time while he clutched at his neck, kissing his cheek and whispering his name.

He kicked the bedroom door open with his boot. It slammed and bounced off the inside wall.

He carried him to the bed and gently laid him down, careful not to hurt his injured arm. Ianto's shirt …it had to come off. One button, two buttons…his fingers trembled uncontrollably with impatience.

At last he was sliding his singlet off his shoulders to uncover his beautiful little nipples, bare and calling to him.

At Ianto's urging, he stripped his own shirt from his body, kicked off his boots and pulled off his trousers.

As he came down upon Ianto, naked and revelling in the sensation of Ianto's bare flesh against his, he whispered, "I need you so much, Jack…."

With one swift thrust of his hips, he entered him.

Heavy rain pelted the roof over their heads, roaring steadily as the rhythm of his penetration deepened.

They moved together, Ianto digging the nails of his good hand into his back, while Jack raised himself up on his arms to look down at him, his face so impossibly beautiful in the murky light of the afternoon rainstorm.

Jack found himself making love to him harder and deeper than ever before, wanting to claim him as his own, to prove that he belonged to him.

Soon Ianto reached his peak and cried out as wind shook the window panes. Greedy for his own release, Jack clenched his jaw as the orgasm came upon him. It trembled through his body and he felt the hot, throbbing rush of his seed pour into Ianto.

For a moment, he couldn't breathe.

All he wanted to do was remain there inside Ianto, holding him tight against him, while time stood still all around them.

But time would not stand still, he knew.

Life didn't work that way.

There was so much left to resolve with Ianto, so many secrets and legalities he needed to understand.

How long would that take?

He wondered, breathing deeply and feeling Ianto also take a deep breath beneath him.

His heart tugged in his chest and he hugged him closer and then wondered when he would ever feel certain of anything again.

What if Ianto went to jail for what happened, even though Lisant had tricked him?

 _Allegedly._

With that old familiar urge to protect himself, something he thought he had overcome when he started to love Ianto, Jack rolled off him and sat up.

Damp air chilled his skin.

"I have to go," he heard himself saying. "I'm sorry. I need to go for a walk or something."

"Jack, please don't go…" Ianto sat up and pulled the blanket up to cover himself.

He pulled on his trousers, then his shirt.

"Where will you go?" Ianto asked " _Why_?"

"I don't know." He honestly had no idea. All he knew was that his stomach was in knots and there was a quiet, simmering anger coursing through his blood. "I just need to think."

He bent over Ianto, gently brushed his hair away from his eyes with his thumb, kissed Ianto on the forehead and then walked out of the room.

.

.

.

.

.

 _What just happened_?

Ianto wondered uneasily, realizing that he had felt a desperate need for Jack to make love to him and in the middle of the afternoon, no less.

But after seeing him with Gwen, he had felt possessive and jealous, and wanted to prove that he belonged to him, and that he was what he wanted.

The desire to be held in his arms had been overpowering.

He simply had to have him, body and soul, in that moment.

So if that was his motivation, what was Jack's?

He'd made love to him more roughly than usual, with all the force of a prairie storm, and he'd seen the carnal need in his eyes.

He, too, had wanted him in a way that was different from the other times in their candlelit sod house.

Why?

Had he closed his eyes and imagined he was with Gwen?

 _No_. He had assured him he didn't want Gwen. Ianto was just feeling insecure and irrational.

Suddenly aware of the throbbing sensation in his arm which he had been completely distracted from while Jack made love to him, he rose from the bed and awkwardly dressed himself.

Then he stood in front of the mirror and straightened his tousled hair.

A short while later, Ianto jumped at the sound of the front door opening.

Had Jack returned already?

He moved out into the hall, only to look down from the top stair and see Gray hanging his overcoat on the hook behind the door.

Jack entered behind him.

Gray peered up at Ianto and removed his fogged spectacles. "Ianto, are you all right? Your cheeks are flushed."

Embarrassed, he touched each of them with his good hand. "I'm fine. I was just resting. It's rather warm up here."

He started down the stairs. "Did you learn anything about the situation?"

Gray folded his spectacles and slid them into his breast pocket. "Why don't we all go into the kitchen?"

All three of them went in, and Ianto sat at the table while Jack poured a cup of coffee from the pot on the stove. Pockets of dread burst like spasms under the surface of Ianto's skin.

All he could do was grit his teeth and prepare himself for the worst.


	3. Chapter 3

_3_

"Please tell me, Gray. I can't stand this any longer."

He stood just inside the door, looking at Ianto, his hands cupped in front of him like he was about to recite the Lord's Prayer. "Well, you're married. There's no question there."

"To whom?" he whispered.

Gray nodded at his brother. "To Jack."

Ianto leaned back in the chair. "Oh, thank God."

"But there's more."

"More?"

"Yes. I think Jack should sit down."

Jack set his cup on the table and sat down across from Ianto.

"The good news is, your marriage, currently, is valid," Gray told them.

Jack met Ianto's gaze, and Ianto wished he knew what he was thinking. Was it relief he saw in his eyes?

Or uncertainty?

What had he been thinking about during his walk in the rain? That if it turned out he was not truly bound to him by law, it might be easiest to simply part ways and forget all of this ever happened?

"I took some notes," Gray continued, "and it seems a bigamous marriage is considered void, whether or not either party moves to end it with an annulment or a divorce. So you were right in your assumption that it was invalid, Ianto, when you agreed to marry Jack."

Ianto nodded, relieved to hear this.

"You said there was more?" he mentioned, working hard to keep his voice steady.

"Yes." Gray reached for a document he had laid on the counter. He put on his spectacles, and read some of it over to himself. Those few silent seconds felt more like an eternity.

Finally, he set down the page. "In 3162, an Antibigamy Act was set forth. It's a federal statute making bigamy a criminal activity."

"Will Lisant go to jail?"

"Yes, once he's reported to the proper authorities, but so could you, Ianto."

Heart suddenly racing, he felt Jack's eyes on him.

"But I didn't know," was all he could say.

"That being the case, you would be innocent, of course, but if Lisant says otherwise….Do you believe he would try to incriminate you?"

"Yes. He told me if I ever revealed any of this, he would say I knew what I was doing because I wanted his money."

"But you left him without taking anything from him isn't that right?"

"Of course. It was he who took all I had"

"Then he'd have a difficult time proving you wanted his money."

"So you think I have nothing to worry about?" Ianto asked, afraid to even hope.

"I would certainly do everything in my power to help you."

Through all this, Jack said not a single word. His silence troubled Ianto more than anything.

"But this is good news," Ianto said to Gray. "Why are you looking so…so concerned?"

"Because there is still one other point."

Ianto steadied himself.

"It has to do with your marriage to Jack."

Jack leaned back and folded his arms. "I thought you said our marriage was valid."

"I did, but there are some complications."

"Because we didn't know each other?" Ianto asked. "People do that all the time."

"Yes, they do, but in this case, it was more than not knowing each other. There's the issue of fraud."

"Fraud," Ianto repeated.

"Yes. On the day you arrived by Transporter, Jack let me read your letter. Don't be angry, he was just trying to convince me he was doing the right thing. I distinctly recall that you wrote you had never been married before."

"But I hadn't been. Not legally."

"I understand that, Ianto, but a court might see it differently if Jack were to bring it forward."

Ianto shot a glance at Jack. He was sitting calmly, listening to it all. "What do you mean, bring it forward?"

"I mean that Jack has grounds to seek an annulment. If he wants to." He looked down at Jack, questioning him with his eyes. "He may not, of course, in which case everything would remain as it is."

Staring across the table at his husband, Ianto swallowed nervously. Perhaps the worst of it was he couldn't begin to guess what Jack was thinking, despite the fact they had shared so much over the past few weeks, and he had just made love to him that very day.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" Jack asked, flipping his hair back off his shoulder. "I suppose you both want me to say I don't want to end this marriage."

Gray stepped back and set the paper down on the table by the stove. "I think we'd both like to know what you—"

"I don't know. If you're looking for answers, I can't give them to you." He grabbed his coat and strode out of the room. Ianto sat frozen in his seat, staring helplessly at Gray.

The front door opened and slammed against the inside wall. Gray hurried to the foyer. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

Heartsick with dread, Ianto listened to his husband's boots pound down the veranda steps.

 _He has not forgiven me. He doesn't want to love me._

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Rain-soaked and exhausted, Jack pushed through the swinging doors at the Long Galaxy Saloon.

He stopped just inside, inhaled the thick scent of cigar smoke, and removed his waterlogged hat.

The place was uncommonly busy for this time of day.

Must be the rain, he thought as he strode toward the bar and dug into his pocket for a few coins.

"What can I get you?" the bartender asked, wiping his hands on a damp cloth.

"Whiskey." Jack didn't take a drink often, but he reckoned, if there was ever a suitable time, this was it.

The bartender poured him a glass, then turned to set the bottle back on the shelf.

"Leave it," Jack said, knowing he wasn't going to be ready to return to Gray's house for a while yet. He had a lot of thinking to do and he wasn't about to do it in the same house with Ianto.

Ianto would cloud his judgement with the way he made him feel, constantly aroused and possessive and desperate to hold onto him.

He should have known something like this would happen when he'd first told him about Lisant, and about his parents being dead for four years instead of four months.

The lies had started then, but he'd felt obligated to stick to their agreement, and he had to be honest with himself. He'd been attracted to him from the first moment, and he'd wanted him in his bed.

Raising the shot glass to his lips, he took the first drink, and tasted the bitter liquid for a moment before he swallowed. He carried the bottle to a table and sat down.

After everything that had happened with Gwen, he should have been more careful about bringing another potential mate into his life so soon. And he certainly shouldn't have let himself fall so hard for Ianto, so quickly, without knowing him better.

He probably _should_ annul the marriage. Put all this behind him and move on. It was quite simple, really.

Except that it wasn't.

He tipped up the glass, downed the rest of the sour-tasting drink, then poured another. He watched as the amber liquid gushed into the glass.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

His head was telling him to cut him loose. The law was clear. He was justified.

But the idea of leaving Ianto behind and returning to the farm without him was unthinkable.

Just the thought of it made his whole body ache with dread.

Never see him again?

Never touch him?

Smell him?

Could he go on knowing that he'd never be able to bury himself in his sweet, warm body ever again?

Laughter erupted in the back corner of the saloon. Jack jumped, then tossed back another mouthful of whiskey, welcoming its numbing effect. He pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his stinging eyes. What were the chances this would all work itself out?

What were the chances he'd be able to trust him? Ever?

If he was smart, he'd never trust anyone again. Or at least he'd never trust the idea that he could be happy and loved without the Goddess, in the very next minute, pulling the rug out from under him.

Jack heard footsteps approach and felt someone's unbidden presence behind him.

He swivelled in his chair.

"We meet again," Lisant said, touching the brim of his black top hat and sporting a nasty-looking black eye.

"Not by choice." Jack had to force himself to stay seated when all he really wanted to do was toss Lisant outside, straight through those swinging doors, face first into the mud.

After a short pause, Lisant pulled out a chair. "Mind if I sit?"

"Yeah, I _do_ mind."

"Oh, come now. You're being a bit hard on me, don't you think? Ianto's the one you should be angry with."

Something jolted inside Jack.

He downed another mouthful of whiskey and gritted his teeth, biting back a surge of violence that was rising up from within.

Lisant sat down across from him, despite Jack's earlier objection. "Bartender, I'll have what he's having."

The bartender brought a second glass. "You want a bottle too?"

"No, just a glass. I'm not in need of it like this gentleman is."

The bartender poured, then turned his back on them and returned to work. Jack felt Lisant's gaze upon him and tried to ignore it. The last thing he needed was to get into a saloon brawl and spend the night in jail.

"Ah. The drowning of the sorrows," Lisant sighed.

"It's none of your business, Hallet."

"I'm only trying to make conversation. We got off on the wrong foot, it seems."

"There is no right foot where you and I are concerned."

"I don't blame you for being angry. I would be, too. But like I said—it's not _me_ you should be angry with. I'm only trying to help." Taking a slow, dignified sip from his glass, Lisant crossed one leg over the other. "I'm here to talk to you, aren't I?

You look like you need some helpful advice."

"You're my problem, Hallet, not the solution."

"That's not very neighbourly of you."

"You ain't my neighbor." Jack raised his shot glass and gestured toward Lisant's black eye. "I'm surprised you're willing to come within ten feet of me."

Lisant chuckled with too much confidence. "We're in a public place, Mr. Harkness. If you lay a hand on me, there are plenty of gentlemen here to come to my aid."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

Lisant took a drink, staring straight ahead. "No?"

"No. I could talk to the sheriff. You'd be locked up before you even knew you'd left the room."

"Locked up? And how may I ask would the charges read?"

"They'd read exactly as they should. They'd spell bigamy with a capital B."

Lisant nearly choked on his drink. "Is that what he told you? I must admit, that's not one he's used before."

Lisant swallowed another mouthful, then smiled and dropped his hand onto Jack's shoulder. "Bigamy. How original. But in this case, I'm not the bigamist, Harkness. He is. I suppose that makes you one, too."

Jack felt his guts twisting like a corkscrew. "I'll have you know my brother is a lawyer. He's checked into things for me. My marriage to Ianto is valid. Yours isn't."

Lisant scoffed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. This is very serious."

"You bet it is. I think it's about time you tell me what's so funny."

Lisant reached for Jack's bottle of whiskey. "May I? Perhaps you should have another, too."

Jack watched as Lisant filled both their glasses. "This is always difficult."

Jack glared intensely at him.

"I've had to do this before, you see. It's not the first time Ianto has gone off for a new life and I've had to bring him home, and you're not the first man he's married."

Feeling tired all of a sudden, Jack rested his forehead in his hand.

"I see you're surprised," Lisant said.

He looked up. "I'm only surprised you're fool enough to make any of this up."

"I'm not making it up. He's my mate and he has a problem."

Jack downed the rest of his whiskey and slammed the glass onto the table. He wiped his sleeve across his mouth and stood up to leave. "Why don't you go back to Delvon Prime and take your lunatic stories with you."

Jack walked toward the door. The confident sound of Lisant's voice stopped him.

"I suppose he told you his parents were dead."

Jack froze.

He stared out over the swinging saloon doors at the curtain of rain cascading from the roof. Slowly, he turned around to face Lisant.

The man had risen and moved to stand at the bar.

"Did he say they'd died in a Transporter accident? Or was it the Pox?"

Every thought in Jack's head was humming with anger and disbelief. This couldn't be. Why had he even stopped to listen? He knew he couldn't trust Lisant.

"Well?" Lisant asked. "Which was it? And was this when he was a child? Or was it recently?"

Swallowing his unease, Jack searched his brain for an answer.

Before they were married, Ianto had written him and told him they'd died four months ago. He'd later told him four years. Which was it?

Lisant poured more whiskey into both glasses. "Maybe you should have another drink."

Jack didn't want another drink.

He didn't want to look at Lisant another minute.

But he _did_ want answers. Most likely, Lisant was playing him for a fool.

At least, that's what he hoped.

Slowly, cautiously, Jack returned to the bar and wrapped his hand around the glass. "What else?"

Lisant reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a cigar. "I'm assuming he told you they were dead, then."

"Aren't they?"

He cut off the tip of the cigar and lit it, shaking his head as he puffed a few times in succession. "They are alive and well on Cassius."

Jack felt his chest constrict.

"You must have had a feeling that something wasn't quite right," Lisant said. "Instinct? He would have come to you with some obvious experience in the bedroom. Didn't that suggest anything to you?"

Unwilling to confide in this man, Jack stood in silence.

But yes, his instincts _had_ been to doubt him, but he'd told himself at the time it was his own problem, that he had come to the relationship a sceptic.

Even Gray had tried to convince him of that.

But perhaps it had not been because of what happened with Gwen.

Maybe his instincts had been correct all along….

He gulped down another mouthful of whiskey and felt it sear its way down to his knotted stomach. He looked at Lisant. "If it's as you say, why do you keep taking him back?"

Lisant puffed on his cigar. "You should know the answer to that. You've been with him a month. He's an incredible man."

Jack stared down at his glass and worked hard not to reveal anything.

Lisant continued. "There's something about him, don't you think? Something that makes you want to protect him, even when you know he can take care of himself, better than anyone, in fact. I suppose I'm no different from you. I want him still, after everything he's done. The thought of letting him go, well, I can't easily live with that. Isn't that how you feel, too? Aren't you trying to justify all this, to figure out a way to fix it and put it behind you?"

Jack didn't answer Lisant, but the question flapped wildly in his brain. Ianto had deceived him from the beginning, saying that he'd never been married. Then, to trick him on their wedding night as he had….

Jack prepared himself for the question he was about to ask. "Do you have children?"

"No. Ianto doesn't want any, and he knows how to prevent it."

By now, Jack's head was spinning…his limbs felt shaky. And it had nothing to do with the whiskey.

He tipped his glass back to empty it. Laying his money on the bar, he turned away.

"Where are you going?" Lisant asked.

"Home."

Lisant's hand snaked out and clasped Jack's arm. "What are you going to do? I won't stand by and let you beat him. Just let him go. That's all you have to do. Bring him back to me and I'll take him home where he'll be safe. You can forget any of this ever happened."

Jack hesitated, glaring down at this man before him.

"You'll give me your word? You won't mark him?" Lisant implored.

 _Mark_ him?

Jack's gut wrenched with disgust. "That isn't how I handle things."

Walking out of the saloon, disillusioned, Jack wondered how he _would_ handle this, when all he wanted to do at the moment was put Ianto on the first Transporter back east, and never lay eyes on him again.


	4. Chapter 4

_4_

Walking back to Gray's house, Jack had to focus hard on not staggering around the cow patties and falling face first into the mud. In fact, in his pathetic, intoxicated condition, he wasn't sure he could distinguish between the two.

He flipped his wet hair out of his eyes so he could see better in front of him. The rain had finally stopped but the road remained a sticky pool. With each step, he sank down at least four inches, the dark muck pulling at his boots.

And _oh, God_ , his head…pounding like a drum.

He should have known better than to accept that last drink. He should have known better than to take the first one. He'd never had much use for liquor. It dulled a man's senses.

By the time he reached Gray's house, it was sufficiently dark. He stopped on the veranda to scrape the mud off the soles of his boots, and paused there, gazing at the lighted windows. He didn't want to go inside. He didn't want to do what he had to do, but the time for indecision was over. He just didn't want to get Ianto into trouble with the law….

Nearly losing his balance, he reached out to grasp the door handle, and kicked himself again for drinking all that whiskey.

He entered the dimly-lit house.

No one came to greet him.

The silence pulsated around his garbled senses.

Standing unsteadily in the foyer, he heard a chair slide out from the kitchen table.

Gray appeared.

"You're back," he said softly.

Yes. Where's Ianto?"

"He's resting. I'll get him." He made a move to go upstairs.

"No. Don't."

Gray stopped on the bottom step. "I promised him I'd wake him if… _when_ you returned."

"I don't want you to."

Suddenly, the room began to spin and Jack stepped sideways. Gray grabbed his arm and drew his brows together. "Are you drunk?"

"No. Yes. I had a few drinks, but I'm fine."

Wearing a disapproving frown, Gray went into the parlour and lit a second lamp. "It's not like you to take a drink, Jack."

"I know, and believe me, I'm already regretting it."

The room brightened and Gray sat down on the sofa. "Ianto was upset after you left. He didn't eat any supper. He went straight upstairs to bed."

Jack leaned against the door frame and folded his arms. "Are you trying to make me feel guilty? I'm not the one who lied."

"I know, I know."

"Whose side are you on, anyway?"

Gray raked a hand through his hair. "I'm not on anyone's side. I just think Ianto needs—"

" _Ianto_ needs? _I'm_ your family, Gray. Me. He lied to me from the beginning and you act like I'm the one to blame here, like I'm the one who's being unreasonable."

"I don't think that."

Jack moved into the room with deliberate care, trying not to knock over the lamp on the side table as he passed it by. "Then what _do_ you think?"

"You can't turn your back on him, Jack. He has no one."

Jack squeezed his eyes shut against the throbbing sensation in his head. "No one? Did he tell you the story of his poor deceased parents?"

"Yes. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"So you lent him your sympathetic ear, did you?"

"You're not making any sense."

Jack walked to the mantel. He leaned one elbow upon it, rested his temple on two fingers. "Gray, you don't understand."

Gray rose and gripped Jack's shoulder. "You need to get some sleep. You're a mess. And Ianto _does_ love you."

Wincing inside, Jack stepped away from his brother. His speech was slurred. "I don't want to hear that."

"But you care about him, Jack. I know you do. You're just gun-shy."

"Damn right, I'm gun-shy. And you don't know everything, big brother. You think you know him because you've spent some time with him, but you don't. He's beautiful and he uses that to get what he wants. You're playing right into his game."

Gray backed away with a frown, retreating into the dark kitchen. "You're drunk."

"Am I?" Jack followed him.

Gray said nothing. He went to the kitchen window and pulled it closed.

"You're always taking his side," Jack went on, "like I'm the one who did everything wrong. Granted, I haven't always been easy to get along with, I'll admit that, but hell, Gray, I'm your brother. We really don't know anything about Ianto."

Gray sank into one of the kitchen chairs. Leaning both elbows on the table, he said, "I'm sorry, Jack. I just can't accept what you're saying."

"I know that because you were taken with him the moment you saw him at the Transporter station. Weren't you?"

Gray shook his head. "No. he's _your_ mate."

Jack laughed bitterly. "Funny, you were the one trying to convince me not to marry him in the first place. You wanted me to get to know him first."

Gray leaned back in his chair. "I remember. I had a bad feeling about everything."

"And you were right. You have no idea what I learned tonight."

Gray inclined his head, curiously. "Well? Are you going to tell me?"

"I sure am."

A half hour later, Gray sat back in his chair and sighed. "Do you believe him?"

"I don't know what to believe," Jack replied. "I'm just starting to have the feeling that this marriage was never meant-to-be. I thought I was avoiding trouble by getting myself a mail-order mate. I thought it would be simpler."

"What are you going to do?"

Jack rested his forehead in his hand and squeezed his eyes shut. "I should do what any man in my position would do. But the idea of it…"

Gray looked up. "The idea of _what_?"

"The idea of…." He couldn't believe this was happening. "God, Gray, I do care for him. I'm practically obsessed, because I can't stop thinking about him every damn minute of the day. But that's crazy, and I can't let how I feel about him change what has to be done. I know it'll be hard, but I gotta do the right thing. I gotta protect myself, and I'm going to need your help."

Gray exhaled heavily and sat back in his chair.

.

.

.

.

.

Ianto lay awake in the darkness staring at the ceiling.

The pain in his arm had woken him an hour ago, and he'd tip-toed into the hall only to find himself alone in the house, which was odd because it was past midnight.

His mind had already created an alarming number of unpleasant scenarios.

What if Jack and Gray had gone out to find Lisant? What if something terrible had happened to them?

What if they'd reported everything to the sheriff?

Back in bed now and turning onto his side, he rested his cheek on the back of his hand. If only he could sleep through this physical pain and emotional uncertainty.

About a half hour later, Ianto heard a skipper pull up in front of the house. He leaped out of bed and hurried to the window.

They were back. A sigh of relief escaped him. He stood at the window, one hand resting on the sill.

Gray and Jack spoke for a moment.

Then Gray hopped down from the skipper and came to the door.

Jack drove off.

A sick feeling crept into Ianto's stomach. Where was he going?

He wrapped his coat around his shoulders and hurried downstairs where he met Gray in the kitchen.

"Where were you?" he asked, unable to hide his fear and desperation.

Gray laid some papers on the table, and seemed to have some trouble meeting his eyes. His tone was cool as he spoke. "You'd better sit down, Ianto."

Ianto's heart began to thump inside his chest. "Why? What happened? Where did Jack go?"

"Please sit down," Gray suggested more insistently as he pulled a chair out for him. Ianto hesitated and then slowly made his way into it. He sat there waiting while Gray flipped through the papers.

"Would you like a cup of tea before we begin?" he asked as he put on his spectacles, hooking the wires behind his ears.

"No, I don't want anything," Ianto replied, feeling confused and anxious, "except for you to tell me what's going on."

Gray folded his hands on top of the papers in front of him. "I'm afraid it's not good news."

A jolt of fear left him paralyzed.

"I'm sorry, Ianto, but Jack has decided to seek an annulment."

Everything seemed to grow dark around him as Gray's words settled into his mind.

An annulment?

Had he heard him correctly?

"He feels very strongly about it, and he hopes you'll understand." Gray took a deep breath. "He doesn't want to see you again."

Tears flooded his eyes.

He swallowed hard, trying desperately not to cry. "Did he tell you why, exactly?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you, Ianto, but I will say this much—it's on the basis of fraudulent misrepresentation. You may want to seek your own counsel if you wish to contest it, as I am representing Jack now."

The chill in his brother-in-law's voice wounded him deeply, for he'd always felt that Gray thought highly of him. Now it seemed as if the whole world was turning against him.

"Does he still love Gwen?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"As I said, it's not my place to discuss that with you."

But he could not back down, because this made no sense. "Did Lisant say something to him?"

Gray picked up the papers and ignored his question. "Everything's right here. You should read it over carefully. Jack has already signed it."

Staring in disbelief at what Gray held in his hands, Ianto felt a sudden burst of anger.

When he made no move to reach for the documents, Gray offered him some information. "It may come as a relief for you to know that it doesn't implicate you as a bigamist. We discussed it at great length, and he doesn't want to see you go to jail. His just wants his freedom. So we came up with a phrasing that would—"

"I don't care about that," he blurted out. "I just want to know what his reasons were. Because everything was fine this afternoon. I still believed he loved me."

Gray cleared his throat awkwardly. "It says you misrepresented yourself. That you led Jack to believe things about yourself that were not true."

He shoved his chair back and stood. "This annulment won't make me go back to Lisant if that's what Jack thinks. I'll make my own way. I want you to tell Jack that."

Gray stared at him, his face pale. "I will."

"And if Jack can walk out on me knowing how much I love him, and how much I wanted to be his mate then I welcome this annulment. If he's incapable of trusting me or of loving me then I'm better off without him." Heart racing, he turned and walked out of the kitchen, but stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

 _The papers._

He hadn't signed the papers….

He squeezed the railing.

Should he do it?

Should he let Jack go so easily, without a fight, or without an explanation on his part?

Ianto's anger quickly became a scalding fury.

 _After all they'd been through together, how could he leave him without even saying goodbye?_

He'd sent his brother to do it for him.

As he stood at the base of Gray's staircase, he began to wonder if this swift death to his marriage had been inevitable from the beginning. They hadn't known a single thing about each other when they spoke their vows at the courthouse, not fifteen minutes after they'd first met.

Surely that had been madness.

Of course, Ianto knew why _he_ had been so desperate to become someone's mate that day, to change his name and disappear into the vast Boeshane Peninsular prairie but what had driven Jack to act so imprudently?

Clearly he hadn't been in his right mind either, after the loss of his family, and then the heartbreak of his broken engagement to a woman he might very well still love. Now reality had set in, and he had come to realize that marriage to a stranger wasn't what he'd _thought_ he wanted after all.

And as desperate and frightened as Ianto had been on his wedding day, he couldn't deny that he had been wrong to deceive Jack, and perhaps this was his comeuppance.

Fighting his grief over how it had all played out, Ianto spun on his heel, walked into the kitchen, and hastily scrolled his name.


	5. Chapter 5

_5_

The sun was just coming up when Jack drove into his yard feeling sleepy, sore, and hangover.

He'd driven all night in a post-drunken stupor, brooding over Ianto's lies and deceptions. At the same time, he'd fought the urge to turn back around, rip up those annulment papers, and bring him home with him.

Though now, he had to wonder what there was to come home to.

Dead crops?

A tiny structure made of sod?

A bitter cold winter on the way, which he would spend alone, missing him?

He pulled the skipper to a halt, set the brake and hopped down.

The chill of the night had not left his bones with the advancing dawn. Autumn would soon be here.

With the sky growing brighter, he could see his breath.

The barn door swung open just then, and Owen Smith appeared.

"Jack! You're back!" the boy shouted. "I was looking after Alice for you.

She's milked and the pigs are fed."

Jack walked toward the boy and messed his hair. "Thanks, Owen. I knew I could count on you."

The boy's face beamed with pride. Jack smiled, but noticed how much effort it took to do so.

"I should be getting home," Owen said. "I still have my own chores to do before breakfast."

He bolted across the yard, but stopped suddenly and turned back. "Wait until I tell Ma and Pa you're back! They'll want to come over again for more dancing."

Jack frowned. He wasn't looking forward to explaining any of this to Mickey and Martha. "Mr. Harkness isn't with me, Owen. He stayed in town."

Owen scratched his head. "Oh."

"You can tell your folks not to worry, though."

The boy hesitated, then slowly turned and took off across the barren field.

An hour later, Jack sat down at the table and stared at the dirt wall while the wind roared eerily across the endless ocean of prairie. Why did he not feel more relieved?

He'd just cut loose a deceptive mate …gotten out of it legally yet the only thing he could think about was how desperately he wished he was here.

.

.

.

.

.

.

After purchasing a Transporter ticket to Caldwell, it was as good a place as any to start over, Ianto went out to walk for a while.

He wasn't feeling very well and thought some fresh, cool air and sunshine might help. He stepped up onto the Front Street boardwalk, his heels clicking in a steady rhythm as he walked by Molly's Boot Shop. The smell of fresh bread emerged from the bakery next store and an unexpected wave of nausea moved through him.

Not again, he thought, holding his hand up to his mouth.

His eyes searched frantically for a place to go, but where?

He gagged, then turned and ran into the fenced-in alley beside the boot shop. With one hand on the tall fence, he bent forward and retched.

A moment later, he was wiping tears from his eyes and sniffling. What else would he have to endure today? Making his way back onto the boardwalk, he tried to ignore the curious stares.

He waited for the sick feeling to go away, but it lingered.

When he imagined getting on the Transporter and rocking and swaying for the entire journey, he nearly retched again.

"Are you all right?" an older woman asked him. "You don't look well at all."

"I'm fine."

The woman stared sympathetically. "Why don't you let me take you to the doctor? I couldn't live with myself if I left you here."

Ianto was about to decline the lady's offer, but thought better of it because he felt so weak and dizzy.

Perhaps he did need some help.

He would put the visit on Jack's account. He owed him that, at least.

"Thank you," he said with his body shaky as he tried to walk. The kind woman held Ianto's good arm and led him slowly down the street.

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"Pregnant!" Ianto shouted, staring wide-eyed at Doc Harper. "Are you certain?"

"Yes, sir"

Ianto collapsed onto a velveteen upholstered chair by the door. The doctor knelt in front of him, his brown eyes full of compassion. "Is there a problem, Mr. Harkness?"

A problem?

Only if one considered it a problem to be pregnant and not know who the father was.

He stood up and touched his fingers to his lips.

Did the baby belong to Jack?

If so, he could not possibly dispute what he felt…a joy so intense, it could not be matched by anything else in this world.

Something inside him told him that it was his, but how could he be sure?

He whirled around and pulled the door open.

"Mr. Harkness! Where are you going?"

"I'm going to tell my husband!"

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From where he sat in the barn milking Alice, Jack was agonizingly aware of the late afternoon silence. The wind had died down, the grass had gone still. If not for the rhythmic streaming of Alice's milk into the wooden bucket, he would have questioned whether or not his ears still worked.

He hunched forward beside the cow and remembered all the days during the past month when he'd looked forward to returning to the little sod dugout after a long day's work.

It's true what they say, he thought, squeezing the last drop of milk from Alice's udder—you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone.

He gripped the bucket's rope handle and rose to his feet, wondering if what he missed was simply the smell of hot cornbread and pork roast. Any mate could prepare a meal and create a homely feeling in a sod house. All it took was a few flowers, a tablecloth, a curtain hung on the window.

But would another maybe make this empty feeling go away?

Suddenly he wanted to saddle one of the horses and gallop straight back to town, get down on his knees and beg Ianto to forgive him for being such an ass, such a coward.

When had he ever just let himself love him without fretting about it?

When had he ever given him what Ianto'd given him?

He stopped suddenly. And why in God's name had he believed that no-good bastard Hallet, over Ianto?

Jack could barely remember what he had said now, on account of the whiskey.

He turned to carry the bucket outside, but stopped when he heard something. Hoof beats?

Anticipation rippled through him. Had Ianto come back to give him another chance?

Heart flooding with hope, he bent forward to set the bucket on the ground.

The hoof beats came to a halt just outside and someone hopped down.

Jack moved to the door.

His mood began to rise. He was beginning to shake with joy, the urge to laugh!

The orange sun came into view as he stepped outside into the light, ready to break into a run, to take his mate into his arms and apologize for everything.

He stopped dead in his tracks, however.

Approaching him, with her long flowered skirt sweeping to and fro, was Gwen.

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Ianto burst out of the doctor's office and ran up the street toward the livery.

He would hire a Land Hopper and drive out to the farm. Then he would tell Jack he was expecting a child.

A child!

As he ran, each long stride sent a jolt of pain up his arm, enough to make him feel faint.

He raced into Jasper lamb's Livery, but skidded to a halt, realizing he'd never be able to steer a Land Hopper with a broken arm.

Maybe he could ask Gray to drive him.

He just couldn't give up.

This news had to change things.

He was about to turn around and leave when a man in blue overalls approached him. "Hey there, what can I do for you?"

"I came in for a horse or a Land Hopper, but—"

"We got that. How long do you want it for?"

Ianto struggled to catch his breath. "I need to drive out to the Harkness farm, but I'm probably going to need someone else to take me."

He held up his arm in the splint.

Ignoring his broken arm, he stared at him, his face lighting up like the Fourth of July. "Are you the one that left him for the fancy-dressed gentleman from Delvon Prime?"

Ianto frowned. "Where in the world did you hear about that?"

"Everybody knows. Aside from that, the reverend's daughter was here this morning, hiring out a horse. Seems like Jack is finally going to get her back."

Ianto staggered back a step. "The reverend's daughter… Do you mean Gwen?"

His stomach careened. "When did she go?"

"This morning. I reckon she's there by now."

Shock held Ianto immobile. _That witch_!

"You still want that Land Hopper?" the man asked.

For a moment he just stood there, the world turning red before his eyes. What if Gwen cried her heart out on Jack's shoulder and begged him to take her back.

What would he do?

And what about the baby?

Jack already thought Ianto was a liar and could not be trusted. Wouldn't he think he was now using her condition to get what he wanted?

Hadn't he always been quick to think the worst of him?

And what if he thought it was Lisant's?

And what if it actually was?

Ianto looked up at the wood rafters, trying to decide what to do. A meadowlark flew back and forth, trapped high in the peaked ceiling. When it swooped down and found its way out the wide barn door, Ianto exhaled sharply and met the man's waiting gaze. "I want that Land Hopper. If you please."

He would then ask Gray to drive him.

A few minutes later, Ianto was pacing back and forth in front of the livery, waiting for the man to bring the Land Hopper around. His courage cracked slightly when he pictured himself pulling into the homestead.

What if Gwen was inside the dugout, preparing a meal?

What if Jack was there too, sliding his hands around her waist and pulling her into his arms? Burying his lips in her neck?

If Ianto walked in on that scene, he might lose his mind.

Biting his thumbnail, he decided to see what was taking the man so long. He walked around the side of the building and collided hard with someone.

Taken aback, he looked up. "No. Not now."

Lisant grabbed hold of his broken arm.

Ianto shrieked, the pain so intense, he sank to his knees. "It has to be now, love. Otherwise, we're going to miss our Transporter."

He dragged him toward the station.

"No! Someone help me!"

Lisant whirled around and withdrew a pistol from the inside pocket of his black coat. He pressed his cold palm over his mouth, and dragged him along with the gun pressing into his temple. "One more peep and I'll shoot you right here. I'd rather you be dead than in the arms of that brute you call a husband."

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"Hello, Jack," Gwen greeted, her long strides fluid and graceful. Stopping a mere foot away, she smiled warmly. "I heard about everything. I'm so sorry. I couldn't imagine you out here all alone."

"You heard what, exactly?" he asked with a frown.

"Gray filed annulment papers at the courthouse this morning. I'm afraid Boeshane has a way of spreading news about people's personal affairs. We both can attest to that."

He buried his hands in his coat pockets. "You came all the way out here by yourself? That wasn't a wise thing to do, Gwen—"

"Oh, hush. It was early in the day and I remembered enough not to lose my way."

He recalled the last time she'd been here, and how she had looked over everything with such shock and disdain….

"Still, it's not exactly—"

"Not exactly what?" she challenged, in that melodic tone she liked to use whenever she wanted to get her way. Funny, how he used to dissolve into a thousand besotted pieces over that voice, and everything else about her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Appropriate? These days, I hardly think my reputation is worth protecting. I've been married and deserted, and now I'm going to be a mother."

She lowered her gaze. "A mother without a husband."

Jack blinked a few times. "I didn't know that."

"No one does. Not even my father." She wandered toward her horse and stroked his muzzle. Jack felt an odd sense of pity—something he hadn't imagined he'd ever feel for Gwen. She'd always gotten everything she'd ever wanted. Even at his expense.

"I'm sorry about your circumstances," he said, taking a step forward, then stopping himself.

"I know you are." She faced him with a genuine look of regret, and for the first time, Gwen seemed like a real person to him, not just a flawless beauty. He could see that she was a bit broken inside and humbled by the harsh realities of the world.

"But I didn't come all the way out here to talk about me," she continued, pasting on a more familiar, dazzling smile. "You're the one who needs a sympathetic shoulder today. I don't suppose you've eaten."

He gestured toward the barn. "I was just finishing up some chores—"

"Well, I have just the thing for a hungry man." She dug into her saddle bag. "I brought enough sandwiches for an army, plus a bag of my own home baked sweets. I remember how much you loved my molasses cookies."

He stood in the yard, staring. As much as he would like to believe that his former betrothed was just being kind, he knew she wanted something. Something he wasn't, and would never be, able to give her.

He wondered uneasily how he was going to handle this. He gestured toward the house, and together they went inside.

Jack set the bucket down in the dark dugout, and accidentally kicked a chair as he moved toward the window to open the curtains. When he turned, Gwen was still standing on the bottom step, looking around the one-room house.

After a general perusal, she moved all the way in and set her saddlebag on the table. "I see a definite improvement since the last time I was here. Ianto certainly branded the place."

She walked to the window. "What lovely curtains."

She rubbed the fabric together between her thumb and forefinger and noticed the dried flowers in the vase. "I'll have to replace these first thing."

Jack's stomach lurched.

"Yes, a new bouquet tomorrow," Gwen chirped.

 _Tomorrow_.

He hadn't thought of that. Of course, she was going to have to stay somewhere over night. She couldn't very well ride back to town, alone in the dark.

Maybe Mickey and Martha would be kind enough to provide a bed for her.

Gwen clasped her hands behind her back and wandered around the room, looking at everything.

"Shall we dig into those sandwiches?" he asked, wanting to put an end to the awkward evaluation.

"Of course! Pardon me for snooping around. You must be famished."

She laid the sandwiches in a decorative circle on a tin plate, and set it on the table.

Jack sat down and began to eat, thankful for a reason not to talk.

Afterwards, Gwen cleared away the empty plate and wiped the crumbs off the table, then began to make coffee. Within moments, its rich aroma filled the house, and Gwen poured them each a cup. "So, I heard Ianto's old beau came to take him back."

 _Old beau_.

Obviously, the more degenerate parts of the story had somehow been concealed.

"They must have loved each other very much. I'm sorry, Jack. You must know I can't bear to think of how _we_ parted. Yet here we are, sitting together as friends. You're not angry with me?"

Why, he wondered, did the conversation always come back to her? "Of course not."

Yet the truth of it was, he hadn't given it much thought. It wasn't so much forgiveness. It was a gradual fading of anger, or more accurately, a growing indifference.

Gwen sipped the last of her coffee. "You know, Jack, it doesn't have to be so painful for you. I could come back. We could finally have what we both wanted before things went so wrong. Since we've been apart,"

She wiped a single tear from the corner of her eye "I've missed you."

Her voice broke on the last word.

Jack dutifully reached across the table and patted her hand.

"You were always so kind to me, Jack. So caring. I was a fool to leave you. Adam was so unpredictable and so vulgar sometimes. He always wanted to be the centre of everyone's attention. But you were always calm and settled. I realize now that to be settled is exactly what I want." She raised her lids to reveal blue eyes now drowning in tears. " _You're_ what I want."

Jack sat staring at her, his pulse pounding inside his head. Here she was. _Gwen_.

Returned to him. Every night for two full months after she'd left him, he'd laid awake wondering where she was, how she was, and hoping beyond hope that she was missing him, just a little, and would change her mind.

He leaned back, watching her slowly rise from her chair. Reaching into her bag, she withdrew a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes, then walked to the window. Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Even in the heat of this situation, as he faced the fulfilment of an old fantasy, he was thinking of Ianto.

"You'll be all right," he told her, approaching. "You're strong, Gwen. You'll manage."

"But must I manage alone?" Her hand glided along his jaw and slid under his hair to cup his neck.

Then, to his surprise and dismay, she rose up on her toes to kiss him.

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So ... since you are all champing for a second one, here it is but it's not what you wanted, is it dearies?


	6. Chapter 6

_6_

Jack looked down at Gwen, her eyes closed, her lips parting in their approach.

Her mouth touched his, and what should have been heaven, felt like hell.

Hands on her shoulders, he gently pushed her back down and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but no."

Her arched brows came together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I can't be with you, Gwen."

"Why not?" Her head cocked to the side. "I'd stay this time, I give you my word. Adam can jump off a cliff for all I care—"

"It's not about Adam," he said.

She stepped away.

"I did want you, Gwen. _Once_. But I married someone else. I fell in _love_ with someone with else."

"You may have gotten married, but everyone knows you'd placed an ad, so it couldn't have been love. You just married him to get over _me_." The sparkle in her eyes died, as if she suddenly realized she'd said the wrong thing.

 _Oh, God_ , Jack hated this.

"Maybe at the time I did it to get over you," he explained, hoping to let her down gently, "but I care for Ianto now."

"But you annulled the marriage," she argued. "Why did you do that if you loved him? I thought you did it because I was free again."

He shook his head and began to back away from her. "I'm sorry you thought that Gwen, but I made a terrible mistake. I never should have signed those papers."

Something shifted in the stove.

All at once, Jack knew what he wanted and what he believed…what Ianto was innocent and Lisant Hallet was a no-good bastard.

 _God help him_ , how could he have believed what Lisant said?

What was wrong with him?

Had it been the whiskey, or was he just a stupid coward when it came to loving someone?

Maybe a part of him had _wanted_ Ianto to be taken away from him now, before he fell any deeper into his love for him.

Gwen began to gather her things. "Adam will come back for me, you know. He won't be able to live without me. And I only came out here because I felt sorry for you."

"I know," he replied, wanting to soften the sting of his rejection. "It's getting late, though. I'd better drive you back to town."

"I should hope so," she haughtily replied as she scooped up her saddlebag and stormed out.

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Jack dropped Gwen off at her father's house later that night. It had been a long drive through the darkness, and they had both felt the chill of autumn on their cheeks and hands. Gwen seemed beyond thankful to be returned to civilization.

Jack then returned her hired horse to the livery, all the while feeling rushed, as if he were running from a fire someone had lit behind him.

He had to find Ianto and apologize. A silent prayer rose up inside him—that he would forgive him, that he might give him another chance.

He pulled up in front of Gray's house, set the brake on the skipper, and glanced up at the bedroom window. A fluttering of butterflies erupted in his stomach.

He couldn't wait to see Ianto, to hear his voice, smell the sweet rosewater perfume he'd come to associate with only him.

 _Dear Lord, let him be there, and let him hear me out._

He hopped down and raced up the porch steps. He was about to reach for the copper door handle, when the door opened wide.

Gray stood there, his face flushed red with anger.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

Gray didn't answer. Instead, he took a step forward, hauled back his fist, and punched Jack in the nose.

Pain spread through his cheeks like wildfire. "What was _that_ for?"

Gray turned away and strode back into the kitchen. Jack followed, realizing with shock that his brother had never hit him in all their lives. He'd never had reason to, Jack supposed.

"You gonna tell me what the problem is?"

Gray sat down, his face suddenly pale.

"Don't worry," Jack said. "I'm not going to return the gesture. I'd rather you tell me what this is about."

Gray flung a piece of paper toward him. "It's about this."

With one hand cupped over his nose, Jack used the other to pick up the paper.

"It's a telegram from a colleague in Mass Ferbash," Gray said. "I wanted to be certain that I'd done the best thing for you with that annulment. So this morning, I wired him and asked him to look into your little legal problem."

Jack read the telegram. "When did you get this?"

"About an hour ago. It seems Ianto was telling the truth all along."

"I already know that Gray."

"Well, you don't know this," Gray added. "Lisant is wanted in three different states. Not just for bigamy. For polygamy, under a number of different names. Ianto was mate number four, poor thing, and he had no idea."

Jack sank into a chair.

"Ianto tried to do the right thing," Gray said. "He tried to work things out with you, but you just assumed he was lying from the beginning, and I let you talk me into it."

Feeling sick, Jack dropped the paper onto the table. "You don't have to tell me I was wrong. I know that. Where is he? I need to talk to him."

Gray gave Jack a glare that could stop a stampede. "I'm afraid you're a little late."

"I know you already filed the annulment papers," Jack said impatiently. "That doesn't matter. I just want to see him. Talk to him. We'll straighten the rest out later."

Gray stood up. "If I wasn't such a rational person, I'd think you _wanted_ me to punch you again."

"Why?" Jack was speechless. Gray had never acted like this before.

"How the hell did you know I filed the papers? Did a little bird tell you?"

Jack letting his hand come away from his throbbing nose. "I can explain that—"

"I'm sure you can. Everyone in town knew Gwen was riding out to see you. She told the widow Harper that you two were finally going to be together, and no one tells the widow anything they don't want spread all over town by noon."

"What are you saying?" Jack asked.

"I'm saying that I tried to find Ianto after I got the telegram. I was going to bring him out to you. But I found out he'd ordered a Land Hopper to go see you himself then changed his mind when he heard about Gwen. He just disappeared. The stationmaster told me he got on the Transporter bound for Caldwell. I'm sorry, Jack. I did everything I could, but he left town tonight."

Jack couldn't accept that. He simply couldn't. "Was Lisant with him?"

"I don't know. The stationmaster said a lot of men got on."

Jack made for the door. "I'm going after that Transporter, Gray. Right after I report Lisant to the town marshal."

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Jack and Gray hurried to the skipper. There wasn't much time. Once they turned Lisant in, they would ride to Caldwell, but there was no guarantee they would get there before the Transporter did.

They pulled up in front of the city clerk's office and Jack hopped down. "You wait here, Gray."

"Are you joking? I wouldn't miss this for the world."

They knocked once on the door before entering. Marshal Potts sat behind his desk, his long legs stretched out on the top. "Evening, fellas. What can I do for you?"

"You know that man who came up from Delvon Prime?" Jack said. "His name is

Lisant Hallet. You might want to go find him and arrest him."

The marshal lowered his legs to the floor and leaned forward. "You mean the fella who came to fetch your mate? I heard all about it, Jack. You have my sympathies. He was a fetching little thing. You don't have much luck in love, do you, son?"

"No sir, but forget about that," Jack said irritably. "Gray has a telegram from a solicitor in Massachusetts, and he says Lisant Hallet is wanted for polygamy in three states."

"Polygamy, eh? Federal offense, if I'm not mistaken."

Gray moved forward. "That's right, marshal, and Jack's mate, Ianto, reported it to me."

The marshal eyed Jack carefully. "Didn't I hear from old widow Harper that you got an annulment today?"

"Yes, sir, and you may have heard something along the lines of me taking Gwen back, but that's just as tall a tale as you're likely to hear around these parts."

Jack and Gray exchanged a look.

Gray nodded his head.

"My mate was one of Lisant's mates, sir," Jack confessed. "But he didn't know

He'd been married before. He was completely taken in."

Gray added, "All the mates were, as I understand it."

Marshal Potts shook his head. "Terrible thing. Your mate must be beside himself."

He rose and fastened his gun belt around his hips.

"Do you think you'll need that?" Jack asked.

The marshal donned his black Stetson. "You can never be too sure of anything around here. Do you know where Hallet might be tonight?

"Can't be sure," Gray answered, "but he's been staying at the Great Western Hotel."

The marshal checked his gun for bullets and clicked it shut. "Then let's go give these mates some justice."

Jack and Gray accompanied the marshal into the dark street and walked with him to the hotel. Lisant was finally going to get what he deserved—and Ianto, too.

This would clear him of any wrongdoing, and he would be free—free to marry Jack again, if he had his druthers.

They approached the front desk clerk.

"Evening, marshal," the man greeted, closing his register book.

"Evening. I hear you have a guest here by the name of Lisant Hallet."

"Lisant Hallet…" He opened the book and ran a long, crooked finger down the

last few pages. "I'm sorry. He checked out this afternoon."

"I beg your pardon," Jack said.

"He checked out," the clerk repeated, uneasily. "He was planning on catching an evening Transporter, I believe."

Gray laid his hand on Jack's shoulder, as if to stop him from running out the door in that second. "You mean the one to Caldwell?"

"I believe so. Said he was going to be with his mate."

"Aw, hell," Jack uttered. He turned to face Gray.

"He didn't say he was going back to him, Jack. Based on what he said last night, he despised him more than ever."

The marshal removed his hat. "What are you two going on about?"

Gray turned to the marshal. "I believe Ianto got on the same Transporter as Hallet this evening, but not by choice."

Marshal Potts scratched under his beard. "Maybe he changed his mind about him?"

A tremor of irritation shook Jack. "You're wrong, Marshal. If he's with him, it

ain't willingly."

The marshal frowned. "You talking about kidnapping?"

"Yes, sir." Jack turned to leave.

Somehow, he had to believe that Ianto would never go back to Lisant. No matter how devastated he was by how deplorably he'd treated him.

This time, Jack had to trust him. He only hoped he wasn't in danger.

He slammed the door of the hotel and raced down the steps, taking two at a time, crossed the road and climbed into the skipper.

"Jack, wait!" Gray called, running after him.

"I don't have time to wait. I have to get to Caldwell before that Transporter does."

The marshal approached. "You ain't gonna make it in that beat up old box."

Jack swallowed, refusing to give up. "It's all I've got."

"Why don't you borrow my deputy's? I'll take mine. I'll ride with you to Caldwell, and take Hallet into custody."

"You can't leave me behind," Gray said. "I'll get mine from home."

"Hurry up, then," Jack said. "We're wasting time here."

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It seemed he had come full circle.

One month ago, Ianto had sat expectantly on a steam Transporter just like this one, watching the Boeshane Peninsular countryside pass by outside the window, wondering what his new life would be like.

Now he was doing the same, only this time…this time, his worst fear had become a reality.

Drained of tears and fighting the harsh pain in his arm, he turned to glance at Lisant beside him.

He must pull himself together and be brave.

He had to find a way out of this mess and return to Boeshane to tell Jack about the baby.

He couldn't lose hope.

Even if he was with Gwen.

Lisant stared at the seat in front of them, the tip of his pistol nudging him in his side.

"My God, this part of the country is monotonous," he sighed, shifting to make himself more comfortable. "Nothing but grass. Miles and miles of it."

"I think it's magnificent," he said, refusing to look at him.

"Magnificent! Trust me, you'll be glad to see civilization once we get there.

Though for now, I should think we'll end up somewhere in Texas. If nothing else, I admire the spirit of gambling out here."

"I thought you wanted to go back to Delvon Prime."

He shook his head. "Too many bad memories. We need a fresh start."

Ianto closed his eyes, feeling utterly wretched. "You can't make the memories go away. A different city won't erase the past."

His expression softened with his perfected mask of affection. "I know what happened between us was unpleasant, Ianto, but—"

"I'm not talking about us. I'm talking about what happened to _me_. I love another man, and nothing you say or do will change that."

He winced as Lisant jabbed the barrel of his gun into his ribs. "I told you, I don't want to hear another word about that."

He glared at him, his chin rising defiantly. "Just because you don't _hear_ about my feelings doesn't mean they don't exist."

" _Hush_ ," he said through gritted teeth. "You don't know what you feel."

Ianto squeezed his hands into fists.

He tried to feel pity for this man who knew nothing of real love, but it was hopeless.

Lisant would never receive his pity.

Not after what he'd done to his life.

Oh, how would he ever get out of this?

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Oh lordy, you are all so invested in this … for your sanity, I shall post the last three chaps for this one OK? You are all in need of closure here. I love your passion so much, you honor me XXXXXXXX


	7. Chapter 7

_7_

Ianto sat in silence after that, jostling back and forth with the Transporter's repetitive, clacking rhythm, thinking of his unborn child and trying not to lose hope.

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Jack, Gray, and Marshal Potts galloped into Caldwell the following morning, just behind the arriving Transporter and the black cloud of coal dust that sputtered out the front chimney.

The hoppers were overheated and so was Jack after riding all night with little time to rest.

It was the price he would pay for a second chance—a second chance he hoped he would receive.

The Transporter, chugging ominously into the station, hissed and blew white steam onto the platform.

The three men trotted alongside, Jack standing up to peer in the windows at the passengers milling about in the aisles, picking up their bags.

His heart ached with the possibility that Ianto was not even on board.

How would he ever find him again?

The Transporter scraped noisily along the platform's edging as it grinded to a halt.

They ran to the back of the Transporter, feet crunching over gravel, and climbed aboard.

Jack led the way up the aisle, pushing his way through the passengers already standing. He and the marshal walked through two cars and found nothing, but when they reached the third, Jack froze, his heart galloping at a frenzied pace.

There it was.

That familiar purple hat.

A noise escaped from deep inside his chest.

H _e was here_. _He'd not lost him._

Taking an anxious step forward, he remembered that Lisant was supposed to be here, too. He scrutinized the man beside Ianto, and though he could only see the backs of their heads, he recognized that black top hat.

A new realm of possibilities yawned in Jack's face.

What if he actually wanted to be with Lisant after everything Jack had put him through?

He'd annulled their marriage.

He could only imagine what tales Lisant had told him.

He felt the marshal's hand on his shoulder. "Do you see him?"

Heart racing, Jack pointed. "Yes, that's him. Beside Ianto, the one in the purple hat."

Marshal Potts moved past Jack. "That's some hat."

He walked up the aisle which had, by now, cleared of passengers, and reached their seat near the front. "Are you Lisant Hallet?"

Jack watched from the back, needing to see how Ianto would react.

Ianto turned his head to look up at the marshal, his sweet profile revealing full lips parting in surprise.

Lisant paused, eyeing the marshal's silver badge. "Yes. Is there a problem?"

Marshal Potts reached down and took hold of his arm. "Yes, sir. You're under arrest. You'll need to come with me now."

Ianto stood up in a panic. "No!"

A spark of grief ignited inside Jack.

He wanted to protect Lisant?

In the next instant, he saw clearly what he was yelling about.

Lisant had a pistol.

He pointed it at the marshal and fired.

Jack didn't think.

There was no time.

As the recoil thundered in his ears, he lunged forward.

The marshal fell back into the seats across the aisle. Lisant turned, cocked and pointing the gun at Jack, who heard Ianto's cry, muffled as if from a great distance. "Lisant, stop!"

Jack reached Lisant before he could pull the trigger and tackled him.

They both fell into the aisle. Jack landed on top and his chin impacted with Lisant's forehead.

Twisting and writhing, Jack grabbed for the gun.

Passengers screamed and yelled.

Noise and confusion rebounded off the walls.

The barrel of the gun was jabbing into Jack's gut.

Terror mixed with rage coursed through him.

His life was hanging on a thread.

He grunted as he jerked his hand to turn the barrel away.

Something clicked.

The sound echoed inside his head, and the gun went off.

Lisant and Jack stared at each other in bewilderment, then Lisant's head tipped back and he relaxed on the floor of the Transporter.

His eyes fell closed.

All the chaos and screaming of seconds ago retreated.

A hand touched Jack's shoulder.

He knew that touch.

With a start, he scrambled to his feet, realizing he'd been lying on top of a dead man. Ianto took him by the arm and pulled him around to face him.

"Are you all right?" His face was pale and tight with worry.

"I'm fine." But his hands were shaking.

A groan sounded from the seat behind them.

The marshal.

They turned, just as Gray came running up the aisle. "What happened?"

Jack leaned over Marshal Potts.

Blood had stained his shirt at the shoulder.

The marshal's cheek twitched. "I think I need a doctor."

"Gray, fetch help," Jack said.

White-faced with shock, Gray ran out. Ianto moved in close and took hold of the marshal's hand.

"You're going to be fine," he said. "Thank you so much for coming to my rescue."

He blinked a few times, and worked hard to suck in a breath. "You're welcome.

And that's a very fetching hat, Mr. Harkness. I can't say that I've ever seen anything quite like it."

Then the marshal closed his eyes, said, "I think it's time for me to retire…" and passed out.

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After telling their stories to the Caldwell marshal, Ianto and Jack watched in relief as the doctor took Marshal Potts away on the back of skipper.

Ianto carried his hat in his hand and stepped off the Transporter into the clear light of a sunny day.

He breathed in the scent of coal smoke on the air and the familiar animal smells that told him this, like Boeshane City, was a cow town.

Other passengers milled about on the depot platform, and there was a low hum of conversation, undoubtedly about the recent disturbance.

He felt Jack step down behind him and his heart tightened with longing.

He could not turn around.

He could not look up at him.

He was too afraid to hope.

Gray hopped off the last step and stood on the platform. "That was close. You both could have been killed."

Ianto finally turned around.

Jack stood tall and strong with his hair resting lightly on his broad shoulders, his expression unreadable.

Oh, how Ianto wanted to forget about everything that had gone wrong between them and dash straight into his arms.

Ianto lowered his head, wanting to tell Jack about the baby, but not in front of

Gray.

What if Jack already planned to marry Gwen?

What would happen then?

The three stood in awkward silence for a moment or two, staring at the wood planks beneath their feet. Gray scratched his head. "Maybe I'll go check on the hoppers."

Jack called after him. "Check the Transporter schedule, too, Gray."

"Will do."

Ianto felt his hopes die a little.

Perhaps he meant to see him off.

All of a sudden, Jack wrapped his hand around his good elbow and led him around the side of the building.

"Where are we going?"

Stopping by the depot wall, he faced him, taking both his shoulders in his firm grip.

"Just now, when you told the Caldwell marshal you never intended to leave Boeshane with Lisant, that you wanted him out of your life for good—was that true?"

Ianto gazed at him, seeing the concern in his eyes, the tension in his forehead.

Fighting the urge to reach up and smooth away those deep lines, he answered, "Of course it's true. I told you before. I don't love him."

"I was afraid you might have _chosen_ to leave town with him."

He shook his head. "No. Absolutely not."

Jack shut his eyes. "When I think what could have happened if we hadn't caught the Transporter when we did."

"But you did catch it," he said, "and everything is fine now."

Slowly, he opened his eyes. Ianto's gaze met with his, steady and unyielding.

What was he feeling Ianto wondered, his stomach rolling with doubts and nervous knots.

He had to know.

He had to know before he told him about the child he was carrying.

He parted his lips to ask, but his words were cut short.

His mouth came down upon Ianto's, hard and wet with desire.

Ianto's head began to whirl.

Jack swept him off the ground and into his arms, into the place that had become a fantasy these last agonizing hours.

Feeling Jack's warm tongue mingle with Ianto's, he moaned with pleasure.

Jack broke away and gazed into his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Ianto."

All the possible meanings contained in that single statement swam in his head.

"Sorry for what?"

He shook his head, lowering it, as if in shame. Was he saying he was sorry to hurt him, sorry for going back to Gwen?

Or was it something else?

"I'm sorry for not believing you about Lisant. I should have been able to trust you, and I should have been able to trust my heart, because I believe _it_ always knew you were a good person. Even if you made mistakes in the past—we all have. But when we learn from our mistakes, we become stronger and wiser, less likely to make them again."

Still uncertain, Ianto tried to find the right thing to say. "It's not your fault. I should have trusted you, too. If I'd told you everything from the beginning, things might have turned out differently."

"You had every reason to keep things secret from me," he said. "I was impossible in the beginning. I shut you out when you needed me."

Tears formed on Ianto's lashes when he blinked, glistening, blurring his view of the man before him. He wiped at his eyes, striving to focus on him.

"I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you," Jack said. "But I think we were right to annul the marriage. When we spoke our wedding vows, they meant nothing."

In that moment, hearing those words, Ianto's heart broke in two.

Grasping for strength and dignity, he took a deep breath and held on.

Was he about to tell him he still loved Gwen?


	8. Chapter 8

_8_

"All aboard!" the conductor called.

Harnessing all the courage he could find, Ianto posed the question directly. "Are you going to marry Gwen now?"

His head drew back, as if he had swung a punch at him. "Gwen? I don't want

Gwen."

"But she came to visit you."

Panic whisked across his face. "Yes, she did, and I drove her straight back to town."

Ianto stared at him, afraid to believe it.

"She wanted to work things out and reconcile," he explained, "but I told her…."

Ianto touched his face with his hand, forcing him to look at him, forcing himself to look into his eyes. "You told her what?"

"I told her that I loved _you_. And that I always would."

"All aboard!" the conductor called again.

"But the annulment," Ianto almost cried. "You just said we did the right thing."

He cupped Ianto's face in his large, warm hands and laughed. "Yes, I'm glad we annulled it, because the second time around, our vows will mean something."

Ianto's eyes filled with tears, but this time, they were tears of joy and hope. "What did you just say?"

He dropped to one knee, holding his hand, kissing it again and again.

Then he wrapped his arms around his hips, pulled him against him, and buried his face in his stomach. "I love you, Ianto. Please, marry me. For real this time."

Wonder and rapture flooded through him.

Ianto, too, dropped to his knees, drove his fingers through his thick hair and pulled him toward him for a deep, soul-reaching kiss.

A minute later, the Transporter whistle blew.

As it chugged noisily out of the station, hissing and blowing huge clouds of black soot that quickly disappeared on the wind, Jack and Ianto stared at each other.

Ianto felt the hot sun on his cheeks.

There was still one last thing to confess….

"I have something to tell you. But I'm not sure how you're going to feel about it."

"No matter what you tell me," he replied, "I could feel nothing but happiness at this moment."

He appreciated his reassurance, but couldn't help feeling shaky. "I found out today that I'm….I'm…"

How could he say it? What if Jack couldn't accept that the child might be Lisant's?

"I'm in the family way," he said, without further hesitation.

Jack stared blankly at him for a moment, and Ianto's heart stood still.

"Is it mine?" he asked.

Something crumpled inside of Ianto.

He had hoped, fancifully perhaps, that it would not matter.

The answer he had to give ripped his heart in two. "I'm not sure."

Ashamed and filled with remorse, he squinted through tears.

Six months ago, who would have thought he would ever find himself in this predicament?

Head lowered and weeping in silence, he was startled by Jack's warm finger under his chin.

Gently, he lifted his face, urging him to look at him. His eyes were filled with tears.

"Ianto, I will love this child more than any father ever could. No matter what the future brings."

Ianto's body shuddered with a sob. "Oh Jack, I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" he bellowed, laughing. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You've just made me the happiest man in the world."

Ianto drew back in dismay. After everything he'd done, after all the lies, how could he be so blessed?

"I love you," Ianto said.

He gazed intently at him, his blue eyes sparkling. "And I love you, too, Ianto Harkness. Let's go home."

He took him by the hand, and led him into the station.

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Eight months later …. Give or take

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Feet crunching over a thin coating of morning snow, Jack paced by an upturned barrel outside the little sod dugout.

He rubbed his cold hands together and blew into them.

He could see his breath.

The labour had come early.

What was taking so long?

A painful scream cut through the early morning air.

He stopped, chest heaving.

 _Please God, let him be all right. I can't lose him, not now._

Another cry stabbed him in the heart.

He approached the door.

He had to go inside.

He couldn't wait like this.

He couldn't bear to hear Ianto in such pain.

Just then, a different cry sounded.

He sucked in a quick breath.

A baby.

It was a baby's cry…

Waiting there, listening, Jack heard Martha's gentle laughter.

Hope and wonder moved through his swirling mind.

The seconds ticked by like hours as he stood there, frozen with excitement, waiting for Martha to come out.

Was everything all right?

Was Ianto well?

He took an anxious step forward when the door finally swung open.

"Congratulations," Martha said, wiping her hands on a blood-stained cloth. "You have a son."

Jack's shoulders relaxed as a paternal glow warmed him.

A son.

He had a son.

"What about Ianto?"

Martha smiled and nodded. "He was very brave, and he wants to see you." 

A lump filled his throat.

He rushed by Martha, touching her on the arm to give thanks.

Taking two steps at a time, he reached the dimly lit interior of their warm little house.

Ianto lay on the bed with the babe in his arms, smiling.

His dark curls were damp around his face, his cheeks flushed. He'd never looked more beautiful to him.

"Hello," Ianto softly said.

Jack stood at the foot of the large bed he had built for them, just after the first snowfall.

He stared in wonder at his mate and baby son. "Hello."

"Someone wants to meet you."

He walked around the bed, never taking his eyes off the two of them.

The child, red-faced and gently wiggling, was wrapped in a small white quilt

Martha had brought with her as a gift.

Jack raised a knee onto the bed to take a closer look.

"Do you want to hold him?"

Unable to speak, Jack accepted the infant into his arms. The boy held up his tiny hand and grasped Jack's large thumb.

 _What joy could be greater than this?_ Jack wondered, staring blissfully down at that innocent face, noticing the full head of dark curl. "He has your fine looks."

"Not entirely."

Jack raised his questioning gaze to see his mate smiling at him.

Carefully sitting up, he folded the quilt back from the child's tiny face. "It seems that he has your chin."

Jack shouted out in laughter. "I hadn't thought to check!"

Sinking back into the pillow, Ianto giggled for a moment, then gestured for him to sit beside him.

Jack held the child in his arms and felt his eyes fill with tears.

There would never be any doubt about it.

The boy was a Harkness.

END

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So ends the three part mini-series.

I will do some one-shots as you were all so in love/hate with this one xxx


	9. Chapter 9

Ianto checked the baby over his shoulder while doing the dishes, sleeping in his little bassinette his uncle had provided.

Apparently a Harness Man wanted for nothing.

It was late and as it was a warm evening he stood in nothing but his nightshirt. A soft billowy white one that kissed at his ankles, another gift from Gray that Ianto had felt strange in accepting, but preferred it to the pink one he had ritualistically burned, not even caring about the destruction of expensive cloth.

Jack had been gone for three days, helping Mickey on the cattle drive and Ianto was getting a mild case of cabin fever.

Well.

Dirt fever?

He said he would only be the one night away, knowing Ianto's fear of being left unprotected.

That was three days ago, three too long for Ianto's fragile heart and every noise, every movement in the crops had him panicking as the whispers of loose Wildebeast wandering the plains at night had him locked in and terrified.

Janet did not enjoy the lock-down one little bit.

The sound of the skipper had his hands stilling in the sink of dirty dishes, then he was running out into the yard where Jack was standing, slapping the dust off his hat.

"You were only supposed to be overnight!" Ianto accused, "I wondered if you forgot about us."

"You sure you're okay, Mr Harkness?" Jack smiled and cocked his head. "You didn't sound like this when I left for the cattle run."

"That was when you said you would be back for lunch the next day!" Ianto scolded and Jack's smile faded.

"You sound like a jealous wife!" Jack snorted, "I was only with Mickey and his brother, Idris. This jealousy thing is not funny anymore!"

"Wait, _this_ isn't funny anymore?" Ianto felt his anger rise.

"Ianto, my love…" Jack sounded puzzled. He stood for a while, ruffling his flowing dark locks.

Ianto took a deep breath as he watched him.

He was the most handsome man he had ever seen, would ever want.

Oozing of manliness, the kind that's hard to find these days.

Like some hero out of an old movie or fantasy story, the kind that every mate dreams of meeting.

Ianto felt dizzy and staggered to the side. Must be the long nights waiting for him, he thought.

A good night's rest would do him good.

"Are you unwell?" Jack asked him.

Ianto detected concern in his voice, as he had known him long enough to care.

 _If he cared he would be sorry, not amused._

Three days, two whole nights and Ianto so upset and afraid he hadn't slept or eaten, except for an evening meal each day so he could still provide the milk little Blu needed.

"Good lord, Jack." he cried out. "Where were you?"

In a flash Jack was by Ianto's side, and before he could stop him, his hand caressed his face, gently.

Ianto gasped at his touch. It sent a flurry of electric current through his body like he never felt before.

Ianto's head began to throb, everything seemed to spin and he could feel himself falling down.

"Ianto!" Jack whispered and his arms were cradling him as he swooned and fell.

Jack lifted him up in his arms as if he was made of feathers and brought his ashen face close to his.

Ianto looked groggily into his deep blue eyes and felt himself getting lost in them. His nostrils flared at the muskiness all over him and it drove a fierce passion into Ianto's heart.

Ianto let his instincts take over and threw his arms around Jack's neck.

Ianto's quivering lips opened to welcome his kiss.

Jack's tongue slipped into Ianto's mouth and sent shivers of ecstasy all over his body. The dense hardness of his broad chest and muscular arms filled Ianto with a sense of desire to be taken by him, then and there in the open, under the moonlight.

Ianto couldn't make any sense of it; it was as if he was under some kind of spell.

"Oh, Ianto…" Jack moaned. "For so long I have waited to have you in my arms again…"

"Jack… I don't know when you are making fun of me…" Ianto caressed his face, feeling the week long stubble on his square jaw and strong chin, "But I want you, like I never wanted anyone before."

Jack kissed him again, with more passion.

Ianto tasted the whiskey in his breath and he loved it.

Nimble fingers caressed Jack's thick neck and broad shoulders as he carried him over to a large flat rock. The bright moonlight flooded the area, but Ianto didn't care.

There wasn't another soul within miles of the place.

Just their slumbering son, who was out for the count.

Desire for Jack was driving him insane, he couldn't care even if there were hundreds of people there; all he wanted was his rugged cowboy to ravage his body.

The large man placed him gently on the rock and stood back to admire him.

This would be their first time under the stars, the first time since little Blu was born as well and somehow it felt right.

Ianto felt his intense stare on him; he could sense his desire burning into him and hoped he looked presentable.

Ianto's body felt feverish, longing for his touch, longing for him to fill him, to make him cry with an orgasm.

He hitched up his night shirt and spread his legs for him.

Ianto's boxer shorts had a damp patch of pre-cum, Jack licking his lips as he looked at his mate's desire and Ianto knew he could see his arousal from his smile.

"Ianto, you're more adventurous than ever." Jack smiled and leaned in close.

"I still don't know how you remember my name after so long away from me," Ianto whispered, "But I don't care anymore… if you touch my bits now, I swear I'm going to cum all over your hand."

"Then I gonna do more than just touch, dearest…" The cowboy wiggled his tongue at him.

Then a soft snort at Ianto's' refusal to say dick.

Ianto gasped loudly at the anticipation of his snaking tongue on his quivering dick.

A sense of euphoria ran through Ianto as Jack reached up his thighs and gently pulled his shirts. His handsome face hovered over Ianto's pulsing dick and he looked at Ianto mischievously.

"Oh, Gods! Jack!" Ianto groaned with lust. "Enough of the teasing…come on,

Kiss it!"

"I reckon I am going to." He drawled sexily and gently planted a kiss on his dick.

Ianto jerked at the sensation, bucking his hips up at him.

The cowboy slipped his large hands under Ianto's lush buttocks and lifted his pelvis up to his face. He grinned from ear to ear and popped Ianto's throbbing dick into his mouth.

His lips and tongue drove Ianto crazy; he grabbed his thick haired head and dug his nails into his scalp.

"Oh fuck," he whimpered. "Oh, yes… this is so good."

"Mmmmhh!" Jack nodded, his eager mouth full of his mate, as his callused hands caressed his thighs and buttocks.

Gods, he loved it when Ianto talked dirty. It was so rare.

Ianto's heart began to race and his breath quickened.

Jack's hands felt like fiery torches on his soft skin. Ianto's whole body shivered with each down-stroke of his mouth on his aching dick.

The cowboy's strong fingers probed at his hole and he inserted one inside. His lips and tongue danced over Ianto's dick and it's slit, sending him to ecstasy heights he had never known, as he finger-fucked him slowly.

Ianto felt his insides clench hard and knew an orgasm of intense proportion would wrack his body soon.

"Oh, Jack… Ohhh," he moaned, clawing at his head. "Ohhh… I'm going to

cumm so hard… oohhh."

Jack grinned and squeezed Ianto's swollen dick, rolling his balls between his fingers and thumb, making a handful for his tongue to lash over.

That pushed Ianto over the brink.

His body shuddered and he gave in to the release. Days of pent up tension and emotions cascaded out of him in a rush of euphoria.

Ianto moaned and wept loudly, not caring that they were out in the open, in a front yard of an old ranch house under the full moon. He shivered as his husband lapped away at the juices flowing freely out of him.

Ianto's body shook with each wave coursing through him and he felt Jack reach up and under his nightshirt. His deft hands cupped his small man breasts, squeezing them gently. His fingers teased Ianto's cherry hard nipples, intensifying his orgasm.

Ianto gasped and whimpered, his fingers clawing at Jack, wanting him.

"Oh, Jack… that was so good." he moaned. "I want more… come on up, cowboy… come on and ride me."

"Mr Harkness," Jack smiled, licking his taste on his lips. "I've never heard you speak so freely before… you're downright making this ol' ranch hand real horny."

"Damn straight, I am," Ianto slurred, driven by his lust, "Get on top of me… fuck me, baby."

"Yee-haw!" Jack bellowed and dropped his gun-belt and trousers in one go.

Jack's large cock throbbed and pulsed as he moved up to him. Ianto spread his legs out wide, his lubed hole hungry and wanting.

Jack has been away for three whole days and forgot to mention the length of time might be extended like that, but he remembered where the lube for the skidder was, lucky it was universal lube.

Ianto gasped at the thickness of his hard cock as it slid into him. As always, it filled Ianto in a way that made his heart change tempo.

Ianto reached out and grasped at his chest and shoulders. He was more man than he had ever known existed.

Had ever hoped for.

Rock hard and chiselled as if from granite, he was every bit a hard working settler, refined and honed by nature.

"Ohmigod!" Ianto gasped. "Your cock is so hard… it feels so good."

"Yeah, Ianto…" Jack groaned and slammed his hips against him. "It feels great in there too… so wet and warm, and tight."

"Oh, baby." Ianto whispered. "You're sure making this wait worth the while."

Jack grunted and lifted his legs over his shoulders, bringing more of his weight down, going in deeper into his arse. Ianto felt himself being folded in half, but he liked it.

Jack's hard cock plunged in even deeper into Ianto and he enjoyed the fullness.

Ianto reached down and grabbed at his iron hard butt, and part-time cowboy or not, he had spent a lot of time in a saddle or doing deep squats to get those killer arse cheeks, he thought.

Were his own arse cheeks as pleasant in Jack's hands?

"Oh, Ianto…" Jack grunted. "It's time you rode this bronco."

With a sudden drop to the side he rolled over with Ianto, his cock still deep inside and was on his back with Ianto on top.

Ianto felt breathless by the ease of his movement. Must be all those years handling beasts, he laughed.

On top now, Ianto took charge. He pressed his palms down over Jack's chest and bounced up and down on his cock. He felt a thrill each time his cock slid almost out of him and then went in all the way to the base.

Ianto's belly clenched as he moved like an exotic dancer over Jack. He felt Jack's hard fingers dig into his soft, yielding buttocks, sending shivers all through his body.

Jack's thickness plunging deep within him and his excitement triggered his second orgasm of the night. Ianto's fingers clawed at Jack's smooth chest and Jack pulled him close to him.

Jack kissed his lips and stuck his tongue into his mouth as Ianto came in shuddering spasms all over his cock. Ianto's whimpers were muffled with Jack's tongue dancing with his.

Jack felt his cock swell up in response to Ianto's orgasm all around it. Ianto's cum splashing his belly and chest as Ianto's head was thrown back, his throat exposed in the moonlight.

Ianto pressed down hard on his cock, squeezing his thickness tight.

Jack looked like he was about to cum.

"No, wait." Ianto shouted. "Not in there… I'm not into my cycles yet."

Jack looked bewildered for a moment.

"I want to taste you, Jack. I want you to cum in my mouth."

"Uh, Ianto…" The Jack's eyes went wide. "That's highly irregular, but I'd love that too."

Ianto quickly got off his cock and slid down until the rigid cock was standing upright in front of his face. Quickly wiping the dick with his nightshirt's hem, he grabbed the base and began to stroke him. Opening his moist lips he took the red hot head into his mouth.

Jack's gasp told him how much he enjoyed that.

 _Perhaps those incredibly steamy and rude books Martha had been slipping to him had been good research material after all._

Ianto stroked his shaft furiously while sucking on the head with fervour.

Jack's balls twitched and tightened, signalling the release of his cum.

Jack felt his cock expand in his love's hands as he kept stroking it hard. Ianto's lips clamped down on the head, he didn't want a drop to spill.

Suddenly Jack cried out and jerked.

His muscular body went stiff and Ianto felt a rush of cum explode inside his mouth.

Ianto looked up at him in surprise. Jack's cum was sweet and salty at the same time.

But it tasted good.

He kept cumming for a while and Ianto hungrily swallowed every drop.

"Oh, Ianto…" He sighed and ran his hands over Ianto's soft finger length curls.

"Mmmhh, that was different… but so yummy." Ianto grinned at him, still stroking his cock slowly. "And I'd like some more."

"Sure thing, Mr Harkness…" Jack grinned. "The night is young and the moon is still high."

Blu's soft little cry had Ianto rising and Jack sighed at the sudden loss of warmth, then he remembered that it was his son calling to him and he raced Ianto inside.

Daddy's home my son.


	10. Chapter 10

2

Ianto forced open his eyes painfully, and when he saw what he had done to his body, closed them again and prayed for oblivion to reclaim his.

He was tied, naked, to his bed.

Every inch of his body that he could see from his awkward angle was covered in bruises and long, shallow cuts that interconnected across his, forming a roadmap of his insanity.

He had struggled for the first hour, had even tried screaming for help at one point, though he knew none would come. He had stuffed his mouth with his filthy handkerchief then, silencing him, making the bile surge in his gut.

Eventually, when it was clear that there was to be no fantasy rescue from the horror Lisant was determined to inflict on him, he tried to submerge his consciousness and detach himself from the horror.

It worked to the extent that Ianto was able to tune out some of the pain – or maybe just to become acclimatised to it – but he could not tune out the indignity, and it fuelled a burning, destructive rage inside him.

Ianto had no idea how long he had been tied to the bed – at least, not in hours.

Time was now measured in his 'sessions' with Lisant.

Three times he had entered the bedroom: each time carrying some object that he quickly learned was to be inserted into him.

Each time, before the violence began, Lisant would rant at him, rising in pitch like an evangelist, working himself up into a state of blind anger that seemed to be required in order for the torture to start.

Always, the focus of his rants was what he called his 'education', the lessons he would learn before he could safely release him and put him to work.

Put him to work.

As a prostitute.

As a whore.

He heard the bedroom door open and squeezed his eyes tightly shut, praying that the man entering the room would be the Inn Keeper or some other saviour, but he knew immediately from the ragged, eager breathing that all was lost.

When he dared to look, he saw Lisant, a dark silhouette, naked and leering.

Clutching a horse whip in his right hand.

"Time to learn."

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Ianto surged from the bed, gasping like he was drowning and Jack grabbed for him in the dark, crooning and struggling to keep him from falling from the bed.

"Easy, easy" Jack soothed, rubbing his mate's shoulders as Ianto continued to hyperventilate in the darkened room.

"Hush, you'll wake the baby" Jack whispered, finally binging Ianto's focus back to him and he was able to pull Ianto into a clutch.

"Jack" Ianto sighed like a mantra, over and over again as he nuzzled against his neck, breathing him in and once again Jack wished he knew how to time travel for one more chance to kill that son of a whore.

In the light of day Ianto would rise as if nothing had happened, talking and laughing with Jack as he lifted their son to his breast.

Still.

Jack wondered.

Did Ianto remember these dreams?

These nightmares that threatened to steal his life force from his very body?

Jack placed his mouth over Ianto's and kissed him with as much might and powerful love as he could.

The dawn would come.

Ianto would wake.

Lisant would never hurt him again.

But for in his dreams.

Dawn was so far way.


End file.
